Reality Big Brother 13
by Medlie Skyth
Summary: Big Brother 13. Same house, but with a different twists, and all new competitions! The big brother cast plus one additional member, Mel, deal with the ever-shifting power in their own ways while trapped inside a house for the summer.
1. Eval

Reality

Everyone KNOWS what insanity the Big Brother house can suck you into. The story of my experience of spending three months away from civilization with is beyond insanity.

The summer was full of twists, bullies, friends, betrayals, romance, competitions, alliances, and temptations. I, being the youngest in the house, am surprised I'd come even this far. It's the last week of this game, and there's only three feisty females left in the crazy house. Dani and I struggle on our final endurance competition to see who will win the last Head of Household for this season, as Rachel had dropped sometime yesterday morning. Though every muscle in my body felt like it were about to fail me at any second, all I could think about was what the hell was going through Daniele's mind. I hadn't spoken to her for at least four days since the incident... and tensions had been through the roof since. Even Rachel, who awkwardly sat on the bench, soaked from the icy rain, was notably aware of our panicked aura.

The clock hand came swinging around yet again. I had to jump, but my body wouldn't answer to my pleading commands! All I could do was watch it's swinging movement swoop by, and hope I'd jump in time before it comes crashing into my blistered ankles.

And before I knew it...

Ch 1; Eval

"My name is Julie Chen!"

Me and the fourteen other house guests hear echoing from the front. Clapping and cheering could be heard before some dudes with cameras lead us around to the side for our introduction.

"But what the houseguests don't know is, from the moment they enter the big brother house, they'll be hit with one of the biggest twist of the summer!" I hear the ambitious Julie Chen announce.

The twist was no secret. Our agents and crew informed us that veterans would be returning to the house... but anything for the audience! We are actors, after all, and if Julie says we don't know, then I guess we don't know!

"I will now introduce the house guests..."

That's my cue! We walk in a separated line to the front door.

How exciting... I'm actually in front of the big brother house! Week one, day one, the first day of a brand new adventure! The day leading to many more days of fame and friendships, experience as an actor and as a person, and of course the experience of a life time!

The veterans were held back, since we're not supposed to know. I'll be the one who'll go in the diary room and say 'Aw no! I didn't know Eval Dick was gonna be here! This totally ruined my strategy! Aw snap!' ...yeah, they'll get a kick outta that! More air time for me, since I'm gonna be famous and all.

The first guy in line stops, and we line up in rows. I was next to an African-American male with a short afro, and an old blond lady. ...She looked old. In front of me was a white male with short black hair that was spiked up in a faux-hawk. We all look around like this is the first time we've ever seen each other, and... oh? These numbers are scarce? Where ever could the rest of our housemates be? Hmmmm?

"Take a look around you... these people will be your friends, these people will be your enemies. And one of you, will walk away with the half million dollar prize." Julie greets. As we look at one another. We are instructed not to speak yet, however.

"When I call your name," she continues "please enter the house and place your bag on your selected sleeping area."

We wait impatiently, as does the crowd.

"Adam"

A large muscled bald man throws his bag over his shoulder.

"Kalia"

I see an African-American female from the next row down nod through my peripheral vision.

"Melanie"

I struggle to life my bag, and then place the strap over my shoulder.

"Dominic"

The dark-haired man in front of me grabs the two handles on his case and allows it to hover over the ground.

"And Porsche, you may now enter the big brother house."

A young blond picks up her bag and the five of us enter the house!

Right away the bald man is plowing through the house. The spiky haired boy is shaking hands with Porsche, and he offers to carry her bag.

Hello! Struggling teen over here! Some assistance!

Next thing I know a hand comes to my side and lifts the bag off my shoulder.

"Whoa! You okay!" The dark-skinned female asks as I spin around. "You looked like you were gonna fall over!" She jokes.

"Thanks." I laugh nervously. What was her name again?

"My name's Melanie." I inform, taking my bag from her as we walked into the house.

"Kalia." She replies and shakes my free hand.

We part our ways in search of loggings. Kalia stopped at the first room in the right wing. It had hot-pink wallpaper and a flower-power theme. I'm not surprised the spiked hair boy didn't follow his new crush in there! The colors were pink, fuchsia, violet, pink and pink. Not really my thing either! Jordan would like this, but I assume she'll share a bed with Jeff. Rachel and Dani? I think they'd die before they slept in a room like this!

The bald and the dark-haired Latino took the room on the right, diagonal to the pink room. The walls looked like solid metal, and shined like it too! Was it like, tin foil or what? Everything else in the room was either black or red. This was CERTAINLY Eval-Dick material! No doubt that guy will physically pick up the person who claimed the bed he wants, and throw them in the pink room! And since I'm the smallest... yeah moving on!

So we reach the room farthest down the hall before it morphs into the living room. The whole thing is animal print! Leopard rugs, tiger stripped sheets and bed-spreads, and the walls were white covered in segments of fur. It made me think it's what a fashionable cave-lady would call 'decoration'. Before I set my bag down, I made sure all the fur was fake. It was, of course.

Porsche peaks in and asks if I want to join them for champion.

"Uh, sure!" I nod. "But I'm not drinking any!"

Eventually all the newbie's had entered the house, and we sat in the living room, pored drinks, and went around the room introducing ourselves.

"Well, I guess I'll go first." I announce. All eyes on me. Yes! "My name is Melanie, I'm 18..."

They all seem to nod in acknowledgement. Some try to lie about their age, and would pretend to be 18, but they could defiantly tell! I could pass for a 16 year old if I wanted!

"I'm from Waterford Michigan, and I'm a student at Oakland Community College!" I finish.

"What field?" A male voice asks.

"Acting." I smile confidently.

"Ooo, we got a performer!" The same deep male voice comments. He was teasing, of course. "Watch, we're gonna think she's sweet and innocent and she gonna end up chopping our heads off! Chop chop chop!"

"...I don't know how to respond to that." I admit. The houseguests laugh at my adorable cuteness!

I sit, and the introductions proceed clockwise. "Okay, my name is Porsche, and yes, my dad named me after a car..." The bright blond trails. "I am 23 years old, and I live in Florida! As a, cocktail waitress!"

Respect. Respect.

"Alright, my names Adam, I'm 39, I'm from New Jersey, and we are gonna HAVE A ROCKIN SUMMER!" He excites, his voice level already rocking the house! That was the bald guy... Adam.

He pumps his fists a few times before taking a seat.

The spiked hair boy stands now. "I'm Dominic." He starts, scratching his head. "I am... 25 and I live in California with my girlfriend!"

Do you really? I mean... who says that! He's lying! He's gay! ...maybe.

"I'm Shelly." The stringy blond-haired female stands, takes a sip of her drink, and proceeds to set it on the table. "I live in Centerville Ohio with my beautiful husband and 7 year old daughter."

We all 'aww' simultaneously. Adorableness!

"Ight, my name is LawON, also known as mister handsomfied..."

Don't worry... adorableness beats handsomfied any day.

"I'm 39, and I live in ILLINOIS," Voice control problems much? "And I'm looking forward to a wonderful summer with y'all lovely people."

"So my name is Keith. I'm 39, also from Illinois."

"Yeah man!" Lawon interrupts, and offers a high five.

Keith accepts. "Ahh, and I'm a human research manager, and that's about it!"

Next Cassi stands. Her beautiful form-fitting outfit highlighted her body features, and her fair skin glowed against the golden brown color of her long flowing hair.

"So my name is Cassie..." She begins, her voice that of an angel...

The guys had their eyes locked to her breasts. Totally immature!

"I'm 26, and I am a waitress at hooters in Tennessee!"

The boys respond immaturely. Waitress... that girl should be a model! I'm waiting for one of those guys to make that stupid 'you're the only ten-I-see' joke. It surprisingly never came up!

"Well, I'm Kalia." Kalia introduces. "I live in Philadelphia and I just turned 30!"

"Big three OH!" Lawon comments loudly. Everyone toasts, including me with my sparkling apple juice!

"To the cast of Big Brother thirteen!" Adam comments and we clash glasses again. Everyone seemed to be laughing and enjoying themselves, and we all talked for another five minutes before Julie appeared on the television screen.

"Julie!" Many of us smile.

"Hello houseguests! As I'm sure by now you have all introduced yourselves."

We nod and chuckle, and look around for a second.

"Not so fast! Because you have not met everyone in the house just yet." She informs bluntly.

"Ooooh?"

"Ooo...!" Were some of our reactions, along with Kalia's "I told you!" comment to me and Porsche.

From the HoH room on the top floor we hear the door open. We look but see nothing yet.

"As many of you know dynamic duos have ruled the big brother house... teams such as Dan and Memphis, Enzo and Hayden, Jessie and Natalie, and who could forget Mike Boogie and Dr. Will?"

We tried to look as nervous as possible.

...no, I'm sorry. Dan is NOT re-entering the house. I know, I know. I too was disappointed.

"We have brought back three teams to compete in this summer's-"

That's all she got out before Jeff, followed by Jordan, was the first to come down the spiraling steps. We all go rushing over and re-introduce ourselves, offering them drinks and a seat.

Rachel and Brendon came down next. Yep; it's possible. We're sick of her already! Still we put on our pretend 'Ohhh... Yaaaaay...' faces to greet her.

"Guess whose back bitches!" She announces in her annoying voice. Yuck!

Lastly, Daniele Donato appears from above. It took me a moment, but then I recognized her.

"Uh oh!" Lawon comments, looking above.

There, over the balcony, stood over-lord Eval Dick. Daniele's father.

"Hello there." He smites, smiling in a sinister way. I was instantly struck with fear, along with the rest of the newbie's.

"Aw man! Eval Dick has entered the house!" Adam stresses. "There goes my strategy!"

'EY! That was my line...

We all return to the living room, now with our full cast. Dick sat at the nominations chair, kicking back like he owns the place. I was initially next to him by some default, but move in between Kalia and Jeff.

Daniele sat at the far end, and as we continued to speak Dick reveled that his rebellious daughter hasn't spoken to him since season 8. Wow!

Dani was in her own separate world right now, staring at the fish tank blankly.

And of course that annoying laugh that makes Rachel Rachel came out every five minutes. Ah-HA HA HAHHH! Yeah- no.

The Veterans took their rooms. Jeff and Jordan hit up the furry room with Me, Keith, and Lawon, Brenchel and Eval occupied the death-metal room and somehow Dani ended up in the pink room. I guess she wanted to be as far away from her daddy as possible.

So our rooms are set, and we take a moment to explore the new renovations on the house. Immediately I see Daniele pushing on walls, searching for a secret room no doubt. I don't blame her! Kalia, Porsche, and Cassi are checking out the work room, and the others disappeared in the kitchen and up the stairs. I decide to join the girls in testing the equipment.

"So you're really, like, 18?" Kalia comments from the bike-looking machine.

"Oh, yeah! I know some people lie about that." I nod understandingly. "But nope I'm legit 18!"

"So you and me are the youngest in the house!" Porsche then responds. I smile back at her.

"What do we have here?" Jeff asks, entering the room now too.

He jumps up on the treadmill and starts running in an arched position. Jordan laughs, and I giggle a little.

"Jeff! It's not turned on!" Jordan points out. I think it was adorableness, but Cassi sort of shot one of those 'no shit!' looks in her direction, followed by an eye role.

"Oh- you mean this thing is turned off?" He smiles back at her.

Moving on!

I wander out, as Dominic wanders in. Shelly was upstairs with Keith and Lawon, Brenchel unpacked in the metal room, while Eval was talking with Adam in the kitchen.

I didn't really have time to stumble around on where to go, because Julie called us back in the living room.

We gather, and take our previous seats. It was time for the first competition of the summer. She explains the perquisite rules, and then asks us to go outside. We hear the black screen, which blocked our view previously, rise from the sliding door.

Being honest, there are a lot of things in this 'reality' TV show that are scripted. Our first HoH was our own improvisational decision, however. I for one was planning on specifically NOT winning the first position of power. I do have a bit of strategy... and the beginning of the game is not my place to shine. I'd rather make a big move later on, more importantly being in the house later in the game!

The very first competition and they're already hitting us with trivia! We take our boxes, each marked with our names on the middle of the three steps.

Don't underestimate me... just because I'm eighteen doesn't mean I haven't seen this show and studied every move of every person since season one! Maybe I was a little young to understand this show mommy and daddy watched every summer, but I sure was curious enough to look anyway!

I grew up knowing this game... I don't know when or how I learned the rules... the terms... the concept itself, but it's all just second nature. And now I'm living it.

So I'm playing along, getting question after question right, when I realize- shit! It's down to me and Brendon? I'm always so proud of my knowledge of this game, gloating about it... that I forgot my game strategy myself!

"The final question will be a written one. Please grab the chalk board located on the right side of your wall." Julie echoes through our speaker-clips.

I cannot get this right... I have to get this one wrong! I just have to!

"In big brother six, Eric and Kayser extended the longest period of any endurance competition in big brother history." She recaps.

I REMEMBER THAT! And then when the others came off, they opened boxes with hinders or rewards, and one made a horn noise, and one was... a PB&J slip, and...

"How many minutes did that competition last?"

...okay. So I just pick a low number like, 3? ...it was more like three days. ...oh, see then it'll be obvious! So I guess I put, like, 525600 minutes? Oops... that's from the song.

"Melanie, I NEED an answer!" She pressures. I squiggle on some random digits... 4321! And hold up my board. Please lose... please lose... PLEASE...

"And the correct number was..."

Anticipation is killing us all!

"Four-thousand fifty one, congratulations Melanie, you have won the Head of House hold!"

Oh few... that's a relief! ...wait WHAT?

Claps and cheers came from the other side, along with Lawon's "I TOLD YOU! SHE A DANGEROUS LITTLE TIGER!"

Brendon shook my hand in respectful defeat, and Shelly placed the veto around my neck.

I was dizzy... what just happened? I kept saying 'thank you, thanks guys, thanks.' But I was defiantly not happy!

"What's in store now that Melanie's Head of H-" Julie's voice revered before she took her button on the button.

"Stay tuned to find out." Eval glares. ...oh shit!

So suddenly me and Shelly are all buddy buddy? Yeah, I wasn't born yesterday. Obviously people want safety. This is the first time Shelly acknowledged me! Plus Dominic approached me a lot today. Bet if he could go back in time he would've helped me with my bag... Oh well. That doesn't matter. What matters is me finding out what these people are really like, and finding the trust-worthy ones to align with.

None of the veterans came to talk that day. They're obviously too high and mighty to kiss butt. I wouldn't expect them to, after all. If nothing else I was ready for threats from that gang! After finally shaking off Shelly and Lawon, I'm able to get some privacy in the animal print room before they open up my HoH bedroom.

MY HoH bedroom... Oh, listen to me! I guess I could get used to this.

No reason to make a big deal out of it! The voice of the supervisors blew through the house. No big introduction for me! Just a "The Head of Household room, is now, unlocked." From the man's robotic voice. 

Everyone went up and waited outside the door. I make my way up too and wait for everyone to get there.

"Me and Brendon have already seen it." Rachel comments, feeling the need to throw that in there. Yes Rachel, you've been here before, WE KNOW! We wish we didn't!

Finally Eval gets here from whatever he's doing, and I open the door.

The room was like golden, fitting for a queen! The rug was a pearly white plush, and the walls a scarlet-red. The bed was gold and shaped as 'a big circle', as described by Jordan. Good job! You know your shapes! Yaaaaay!

A couch-ish thing with gold-yellow type cushions was diagonal, facing the bed. A big TV... big brother is watching! Or at least, little sister is! Muh haha! (...that's me, in case you didn't catch that) and right from there was my personal bathroom.

There was a table with snacks, candies, and candies. I opened the skittles, and passed them around. See, we're all friends! For now anyway till I have to put someone on the block... even Eval and Dani took some candy though, hopefully to be kind, since I'm now Head of Household.

As the group filed out, some lingered. The vets were first to leave, then Adam, then Porsche. Soon it was just me, Shelly, Kalia, and Cassi.

It should really be Porsche with us instead of Shelly. We were already a group! Soon Shelly gets the hint and heads down to the kitchen, leaving me and the girls to talk game.

"Wow... I don't think ANY of us expected you to pull out over the vets!" Kalia praises. "No offence or anything!"

"Yeah- we were all shocked!" Cassi admits.

"Yeah..." I sigh. "So was I."

"I bet! Hahah!" Kalia cheers, and then hits me with a high-five. "You showed them!"

"Heh!" Cassi giggles, and then shoves more candy in her mouth.

"Actually, I gotta tell you guys something." I start.

Before they can respond, Porsche knocks at the door. "Melanie? I left my wrappers, can I-"

I had already nodded at Kalia, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, to open the door.

"Oh! Good good, you're here!" I comment. "Sit down, I gotta tell you guys something!"

She sits on the couch next to Cassi. They all look at me, waiting for my announcement with curiosity. "What is it Mel?"

"Okay... honestly? I didn't even WANT to win this competition." I admit.

They're quiet at first. "So, what? You just guessed?" Porsche chimes in, trying to make sense of what I just said.

"Well, I didn't wanna be, like, the FIRST person to go out, but after that yeah I ended up getting a lot of lucky guesses and..."

"Is that why you answered 4321? I was wondering why such an odd number!" Kalia adds, finally making sense of things.

They all seemed to believe me. Now weather these girls are my friends or not... well let's say if I hadn't won, we wouldn't be all close-knit like this. I'd still be the wandering outcast, no doubt. Maybe winning HoH was a good move on my part... but for now the three think it was unintended, and they can go spread that all over the house if they like! It'll be easier to put people up if they know I didn't want to, I would think.

"So what are you gonna do? Like... you don't even know who you're gonna put up!" Cassi realizes now.

"I don't even know half these people's names!" I cry, "I'm seriously freaking out!"

A pause of silence, then "Why not put up two veterans?" Kalia suggests out of nowhere.

"I thought about that earlier." I reply somberly. "I really don't want them after me this early in the game."

"So we have to put up someone who, like, won't care." Porsche gathers.

We? Uh, this is MY HoH lady! But, then again, if you wanna do the chopping and take credit, be my guest!

"So, afro dude and spiky hair guy?" I offer.

They laugh in amusement.

"Oh Melanie! You're so cute!" Cassi giggle. My face turns a bright pink. "Just so you know Mel there will be no golden key with the name 'spiky hair guy' on it!"

I laugh again, and get the feeling they want to teach me now. It's fine... I need a quiz on the names, so it'll be good for me.

"Okay, I'm...?"

"Cassi." I get out, still laughing a little.

I bet if they choose to broadcast this, there'd be like a little score-thing on the bottom of the screen, one labeled 'correct' and the other 'incorrect'. Then a little 'ding ding ding!' goes off when I get the first name right.

"And, Kalia and Porsche." I continue, pointing throughout the room. Two more points!

Kalia turns on the big screen, then zoom in on the kitchen.

"That one?" She tests.

"...bald guy?"

EEEEER!

"Okay, Mel? His name is Adam." Kalia says, in a more serious then teasing tone.

"Adam." I nod.

"Him?" Porsche asks, pointing at afro dude.

"Umm... ..."

EEER! Two strikes!

"Lawon." Kalia informs. Right...

"And that's Eval and Brendon." I say, already knowing that group.

We switch the cam to the pink room.

"Okay, these two."

"Well that's Shelly, and the spiky hair guy is... ...Latino?"

ERERER!

"Dominic!" Kalia and Cassi say at the same time. Riiiight, Dominic.

For now it was getting late, and the girls decided they'd let me think on it overnight before making any decisions.

"Or at least, it'll give you time to remember the names!" Cassi smiles, and then shuts the door on the way out.

Man, it has been a LONG first day...

First thing in the morning I'm expected to make my nominations. But what should I base them on?

"Everyone knows you don't know what you're doing, so just say that you had to put up someone, and it happens to be those two." Kalia explains. I guess it makes sense.

"Thanks Kalia." I smile. She nods then opens the door. "Wait... Where are you going! You just got here, come hang out!" I beg her. "It's lonely up here by myself."

"Then come downstairs for breakfast! Jeff made eggs!" She invites, and then leaves out the door before me.

"Uh, coming!" I shout after her, but she was gone.

What happened to Kalia? I thought we were becoming friends! ...maybe it's just in my head. It's only the second day, after all. Maybe I'M the one whose acting funny! It makes sense. Yeah. I am pretty stressed about nominations. Lawon and... and afro guy- no wait, Lawon IS afro guy! So... Lawon and... ...Nick? No that's not right! There is no Nick in this season!

I continue to contemplate through my mind as I spiral down the steps.

Sure enough, there were eggs out. I picked an apple from the basket and joined Cassi, Adam, and Jordan outside.

"Can I sit here?" I ask, as if I were still in my old high-school cafeteria.

"No, no one else is allowed to sit here." Adam jokes. "Naw, I'm just playing."

"Have a seat." Cassi smiles and pats the spot next to her.

I promptly place myself at her side.

"Jeff made eggs, you know." Jordan comments, noticing my green apple. "You can have some, he made them for everybody!"

"Kalia told me." I reply. "I don't eat eggs."

"Kalia told you?" Cassi asks confused. Adam had a puzzled look on his face too.

"Yeah, she came up and said breakfast was ready, like, five minutes ago." I reiterate. "Why?"

Cassi and Adam stop eating for a moment and look at each other, then shrug and go back to their meal. "It's just, uh..." Cassi starts, uneasy.

This is really starting to spark my suspicions now. "What?"

"Nothing." She replies, nonchalant. "How's you fruit?"

Rotten.

At first I figured I'd wait until nominations were over to start making enemies. Even if I had, it was already too late for that. I enter the living room through the kitchen and find Dominic and Daniele, who looked like they were having a conversation, then stopped when I walked in.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Kinda." Dani replies with an annoyed glare.

Whoa! Like, whoa. Can you TALK to the HoH like that before nominations? But why would Dani have a problem with me.

Dominick stands before I even get the chance to ask.

"So who are you putting up Melanie?" He asks out of the blue, and stands too close for comfort.

"Uh... well... it's a tough decision cause I really don't know everyone yet..." I stutter, backing away.

"Pfff!" Dani mocks from the other side of the couch.

"Really?" Dominic asks, continuing to step forward.

And thank god, it was Kalia who came passing through. Kalia would have my back! "Really what?" She asks, entering with her breakfast.

"Kalia!" He signals her over. "Melanie here says she doesn't know who she's gonna put up yet." He explains, putting his hands on his hips judgingly.

"You said you were gonna put up the spiky hair dude." She replies, as if to remind me in a matter that Dominic was not hearing all this.

He was, though. She knew that. And to my dismay, so was spiky-hair number two, standing in the doorway and listening to all the drama. Perfect. Just, perfect. Kalia deceived me!

"Oh, is that so?" Eval smirks, entering the room. "Tell us Melanie, which spiked hair guy were you talking about? Hmm?"

He was causing a scene. Rachel ran in to get everyone, and soon the whole house (minus Cassi Jordan and Adam) was gathered around the living room, watching two spiked haired guys intimidate me.

Eval Dick was winning.

"You would _really_ put me up?" He mocks. "That's not a defense to putting up Doms over here, that's a fucking death wish."

He still managed to maintain his poise in all this. That's the scariest part of it all...

"I don't know..." I softly mutter in defeat.

"What?" Dominic taunts.

"I said I don't KNOW!" I scream back, then speed-walk away from the scene. Porsche followed me upstairs, but Kalia remained where she was.

On the television they all looked very awkward. Dick was pleased with himself, and acted as though nothing happened as he chows down on a plate of eggs. Brendon Rachel and Jeff were heading outside, and the rest sorta stood there like farm animals. I quickly turn it off when Porsche knocks at my door.

"Mel? You okay?" She calls through. I don't respond, but she comes in anyway. "Melanie?"

"I'm fine." I lie. "You can go back downstairs now..."

The door shuts behind her as she sits next to me on the bed. "Common, don't let it get to you! Kalia and them are just big bullies." Porsche reassures me, patting my back and trying to be sensitive.

Another knock. Porsche turns on the telescreen to see Cassi and Jordan at the door.

"Come in..." I reply, and they step inside."

"What happened?" Jordan asks, only semi concerned.

Cassi also looked with a curiosity of the situation they only partly heard through the door.

"Dominic and his new girlfriend were being jerks, and then Kalia came in and made it worse." Porsche explains to the clueless girls. "Then Eval came in and blew up at her, and she hid up here."

"Aw..." Jordan sympathizes. "Mel you can't let them get to you! You gotta stand your ground and fight! Otherwise this house is gonna eat you alive. I know from experience!"

"I... I know." I nod slowly. Porsche wipes the single tear falling from my face. "Look, I'm alright, really. Just-"

And another knock. This time it was Dominic.

"Can you give us a moment?" Jordan calls through the door.

"Ah, I just wanted to apologize. And..."

And clearly Daniele did not approve of him being up here, so she drags him back downstairs. We watch him leave, and then Jordan turns the TV off.

"Mel, you cool off, and come down stairs when you're ready to talk about this." She informs, and leaves out the door, followed by Cassi.

"You sure you're alight?" Porsche asks one last time before standing up.

"Yeah."

She looks at me with disbelief, but leaves anyway.

...oh, why did I have to win this week?

"As Head of Household, it is my duty to nominate two people for eviction this week." I begin. "I will start by pulling the first key. That person is safe. Then he or she will pull the second, and so on and so forth." Was I reading this right? So on and so forth? Do teleprompters have typos? "I will now pull the first key." I continue, and remove the first key from the wheel.

"Adam, you are safe."

"Thank you." Adam accepts his key, and then spins the turning wheel to him. "Jeff, you are safe."

"Thank you Melanie."

It went from Jeff to Jordan, Jordan to Rachel, Rachel to Lawon, to Porsche to Brendon to Shelly to Cassi to Keith.

That left one key in the hole. I start to feel nervous, and temporarily forget my speech. Keith turns the key, lifts, and reads...

"Dominic."

Eval shoots me a glare.

"You are safe." Keith finished, placing the key on the turner and spinning it over to him.

I think that Eval may have expected to go up. But what he didn't know was I'd put his daughter next to him on the block.

"I have decided to nominate... Dick and Daniele, for eviction." I start shakily, but find my poise. "I was told I need to fight and stand up for myself... Dick?"

He raises his eyebrow and smiles.

"This house is going to eat me alive, and I don't need you assistance." I state. "And Daniele?"

Not even a glance. ...was she dead?

"You placing is purely strategic."

I just want Eval to go... and if he repeats his actions from season 8, then with any luck there should be no way he's coming off the block. Either they stay... or Dani takes herself off and I find a pawn... or Dick wins veto and takes his beloved daughter off. It's a win-win-win.

"This meeting is adjourned." I conclude, and Adam helps me lift the wheel.

Once put back in its place, I realize how many enemies I've already made. My game is falling apart, and if I survive the next few weeks, I'm just gonna lie low and avoid any and all drama.

We have Dani and Kalia, who are now extra pissed at me since I put Dani on the block. We have Dick, who... hopefully... will be gone by the end of this week and I won't have to worry about him. And last but not least, we have Dominic! Who I just learned is head-over-heels for Daniele Donato. Three seasons later and she can still charm her servants to do whatever she says. Sickening!

I return to my dungeon room and change into my swim suit. They had just opened the pool before the ceremony, but none of us wanted to get wet.

Except Adam. He jumped right in, clothes and all! It splashed us.

No knocks or anything while I was changing. I assume that was everyone else's plan too. I walk down stairs and enter the bathroom in search of a towel. Cassi beat me to it, and hands me one from the big pile she grabbed.

"Thanks!"

"No problem."

Some how we all managed to squeeze in. Neither Dani nor her crew showed, nor did Shelly, Dick, and Brendon for whatever reason.

Me Cassi Adam Jeff Jordan Keith Rachel Porsche and Lawon. HA! That's nine of us in an eight-person pool! It was uncomfortable and comical at the same time!

"Yep, I'm getting out now." Jeff announces. Jordan follows him, and Rachel didn't look like she wanted to be here with all the newbie's. She leaves.

"Six." I count. "Seven if you include the rubber ducky."

"Hmhm!" Cassi smiles, and then addresses the group as a whole. "Anyone wanna play Marco Polo?"

We all crack up!

"Yeah, uh, NOT IT!" Adam calls.

"We could play an improv game." I offer.

"That's right!" Lawon reminds. "Tiger here is a natural actress!"

I think he calls me tiger cause I sleep in the tiger-print bed. ...works for me!

"Has anyone ever played 'bang'?" I ask. Pretty much everyone has, since we all have acting experience. Some a lot more then I do. The only one confused was Porsche.

"Oh my god I love bang!"

"I wanna go first!"

"No, I called shottie! Heh, get it? Cause it's 'bang'?"

"Wait, what?" Porsche asks, not understanding the excitement.

"You don't know what bang is?" Cassi asks in shock.

We spend a good five minutes explaining the rules, and then Adam volunteers to go first. We all spread out in an even pentagon, and await his first move.

For you non-theatrical type, Bang is actually a really simple game to explain. One person stands in the middle with their fingers shaped like a gun. That person randomly picks someone to 'shoot', then shouts-

"BANG!"

Adam points directly at Lawon, who then 'catches' the gun, also shouting 'bang'

Now his fingers pointed at both sides; I was on one and Keith on the other. I duck underwater faster, which results in Keith's death.

If Lawon hadn't 'caught' the gun or reacted fast enough, he would be the one killed, and both Keith and I live. If only it worked that way in the big brother house... Oh, also. You don't HAVE to play this in the water. It works just as well with regular ducking or crouching, or dramatically falling to the floor, or whatever your mind thinks!

"BANG!" Adam strikes again, this time at Porsche.

"What? Uh..." She points at Adam. "Bang bang bang!"

...I don't think she gets it.

"...let's play something else." I suggest.

Instantly Lawon shouts "HAVE YOU EVER!"

Everyone seems delighted.

"...have I ever what?" I add.

"OH MY GOD YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED HYE?" Adam stresses. "Everyone's played that!"

"Adam she's eighteen! 'Have you ever' is a drinking game." Porsche reminds him.

"Oh." He remarks.

"I can just drink milk." I offer, not wanting to be a bother, but still wanting to be involved.

"It isn't really fun until you get drunk."

"I...could drink monster? And like, get sugar high?" I offer instead. Monster came along with my goody basket of being HoH.

"This one on sugar? That could be dangerous!" Lawon comments. "Let's do this!"

After learning the game, I was quick to catch on! Really plain questions came up, but they started getting more imaginative as the crew drank more and more.

"Okay, okay." Cassi stutters. "Umm... Have you ever... Eaten a blue cow on the moon!"

Adam takes a drink.

"OH! Shut up!" Rachel laughs. She and Shelly joined the game too after we came inside.

And they got even more stupid as time passed. How is this funny?

"Alright... have you ever..." Porsche laughs. "Uhh... have you ever, farted?"

"Really? ...REALLY?" I say, when no one picked up their glass. "I'm out."

"Bye bye Mel!" Cassi laughs.

"Bye Tiger! Reow!" Lawon calls, swiping his 'claws'.

It was up to my HoH room. Maybe I'd shower off the chlorine and listen to some music? Or I could pick up my room. My wet swimsuit was on the floor, and Porsche's candy wrapper from yesterday. Yeah that's about it.

Okay wait! There's all this stuff going on in the house that I don't know about. Kalia switched sides, or was never on my side to begin with. And Dominic has a major crush on Dani? Showmance! And who knows what else is going on! I need to get the gossip. I need to find people who aren't playing improv games, and try to strike up a conversation.

Except pretty much everyone who I can talk to is drunk.

"Except maybe not Keith!"

I say to myself. Keith was napping last time I checked, but he might be up now! And were Jeff and Jordan playing HYE? ...nope. According to my telescreen they're chatting in the weight room. I do need to thank Jordan for the good advice... maybe I could even align myself with her and Jeff! Kalia got in with Dani, after all. Why can't I, the first HoH, be on the same team as two veterans? ...I wonder if they've already paired up with Brendon, Rachel, and Eval actually...

Only one way to fine out.

"Can I intrude?" I ask, poking my head in the work-out room.

"Come on in." Jordan answers, and I sit on a bike-ish thing.

"I, uh, I wanted to thank you for the advice you gave me earlier today." I start nervously. "I really appreciate it."

"What? About standing up for yourself?" She confirms.

I nod.

"No problem."

I smile, and then look at Jeff. He's expressionless.

"Did you want to use the Treadmill?" He asks, not straying from his sightline.

"Oh! No. No thanks."

...this is going awfully slow. So... do I just bring up one of my many questioning topics, or try to start a conversation that'll lead into one?

"So... everyone's drinking. And I'm really bored." I explain. "But, like, I don't wanna intrude on your privacy, so if you want me to leave just tell me."

Jeff shuts off the machine and looks at me. "Can we talk some other time?"

Oh...

"Oh! Sure!" I reply, understanding that I may have just got Jordan in trouble. "No problem."

He shuts the glass door, but after taking a couple steps away I gave in to my curiosity and listened at the door.

"-was so sad, and he was being mean to her!" I hear Jordan explain.

"I know you're sweet and I know you want to help everyone but right now I need you to keep away from them, and stick with helping our alliance." Jeff replies.

I quickly step around the corner when the fur-room door opens. It was just Keith waking up, but I didn't want him, or anyone, to know I was spying.

I walk from the living room around to the kitchen and take some of the empty beer cans to recycling. Keith sits down and pops one open, and I realize how much of an outcast I still am.

We now add Jeff and Jordan to my 'not-happy-with-me' list. That totals to sic out of fourteen people who would vote me out next week, provided I go up.

And 'stick to helping our alliance'? Jeff didn't say 'you need to help Eval'. Obviously they're pared with at least one other person, if not more. It looks like I'm the enemy here, which sucks! Someone has to do something to get on someone's bad side... to get a target on their back besides myself... but who would make such a stupid move?

Night fell quickly. I took a nap after picking up my fellow house-mates empty cans, but it was 5am when I awoke.

No bright lights, no excessive noise... no noise at all, actually. It's a pretty isolated room. But I just couldn't get back to sleep. I kept counting the numbers over and over in my head... it was hard to keep track, and I always added up to fourteen.

There are fifteen people in the house! Fifteen! I must be doing the math wrong... Daniele, Dick, Dominic, Kalia, Jeff, and Jordan. These were the people against me. 6. Porsche and Cassi. 2 more. The two were definitely on my side. Lawon, Shelly, Adam, and Keith. 4 more, have not aligned with any side yet. Brendon and Rachel. Another two, who are possibly in an alliance with the rest of the vets, minus Dani.

It's Dani's fault she's not with the other vets. She won't go anywhere near her father, or even speak to him for that matter. If she just talked to Jeff and them, I'm certain they'd let her be in their group. She'd have to actually WORK with her father though, like she did season eight! She's so stupid in a stubborn sort of way! Like she has something to prove.

Aw man... I lost my number track again. Okay... 6 plus 4 plus 2 plus two... that's still only fourteen houseguests! Who am I forgetting? Spiky? Check. Bald? Check. What about Latino? ...no, he's spiky. Arrrrg! It's too much for my wandering brain to compute... especially under all this stress and it being 5:02am. Perhaps some hot tea? I check my telescreen first to make sure Eval or someone else isn't up. Coast is clear! I'll just grab some apple-cinnamon and take it upstairs.

While microwaving my beverage, I stare outside into the darkness. Our yard is walled off, but the outdoor environment is almost like an escape from the claustrophobia this house emits. It's already getting to me... I know that. Why, I'm even starting to see things! Like a lump under the hammock. And it's moving! Haha! Right. Like someone fell asleep out on the Hammock.

...or did they?

My tea beeps at me as I slowly slide open the door, and then shut it as quietly as possible. The lump wasn't moving anymore... but it was hard to tell if there really was something there in the dark. I get closer... quietly...

"Hello?" I whisper to the bunched up blanket. I felt stupid...

...

...poke.

"EE!"

The lump squirmed to the point where it spun off the hammock, still tangled in the blankets.

I jumped back when Dani emerged from the pile.

"Ah!"

"Melanie, what are you doing out here?" She snaps, trying to keep her tone hush, however.

"What are YOU doing out here, Daniele?" I counter. "Are you even aloud to sleep out here?"

She was more than irritated with me at this point. "I don't care. I can't fucking sleep in that room with those girls..." She sighs.

"Well, my bed's still open in the animal-print room." I point out. "You could always-"

"I don't care how many times those sheets have been washed..." She grunts. "There's no way I'm sleeping somewhere that you've got all your slimy... Melanie germs all over."

Sheesh. Looks like someone's not getting HoH then.

"So you'd rather sleep outside and suffer bug bites and possible rope burn then just take my bed?" I confirm.

"That's right!" She says in a sarcastic tone.

Dani resituates (is that really a word? Resituates? ...if it is that would be a great spelling competition word!) herself on the hammock and throws the covers back over her face and body.

I wait a second.

"So you're just gonna-"

"Get the hell away from me." She grits, and I feel my tea has cooled off by now.

Before going in I look back at her one last time. What did I ever do to her?

I end up falling right back to sleep after a couple sips of my drink, and before I know it it's 9 o' clock! Our food locker is being re-stocked, so no one has had breakfast yet. Apparently Jeff put in a request for pancake mix! We all waited with our stomach's growling for the storage to open.

Now that everyone was sober, the outcast feeling had disappeared and I found myself in the middle of a conversation with Lawon and Keith.

"What happened with Doms? I thought we were tight, y'know?" Lawon asks as I'm stepping outside.

The blankets from the hammock were gone completely.

"I don't know, man." Keith remarks.

"What ever happened to Kalia?" I chime in.

Both look at me.

"I though she and I were tight, but now she's with-"

"The white witch?" Lawon finishes. "We know."

White witch... maybe I have two allies right here if they're also not-too-happy with Daniele.

"...I heard from someone." I start, as I sit in the corner nook of the outside furniture. "That Dominic has a major crush on Dani."

"I knew it!" Lawon brags. "That Daniele hasn't changed one bit! And I bet she'd be just as quick to throw him under the bus too." He finishes.

Me and Keith nod.

"But what about Kalia?" I ponder. It was the perfect moment to get some info, so why not take advantage. "When did she decide to ditch us?"

I meant us in the most universal way. 'Us' wasn't Me, Porsche, and Cassi. It was anyone and everyone against Daniele and her rat pack. Including Keith and Lawon.

"I don't know girl." Lawon sighs.

"We thought you would know." Keith admits.

"Well..." I begin. "Why don't we meet up in the dungeon with Cassi and Porsche, and see if we can't put our heads together and figure this out?"

They think on it.

"Who wants to see Jeff make pancakes?" Rachel shouts out the door. ...no adorableness points added nor deducted.

We all stand up and make our way inside.

Keith puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Just give me a time and I'll be there." He answers.

"Keep me in on the loop too, kay girl?" Lawon adds.

I smile at them both. Finally, we're getting somewhere.

After breakfast, I head to my room where Porsche is already waiting. We plan on spreading out the times we come up here, just so there are no suspicions.

Once the five of us gather, its right to game talk.

"So we were talking about what got into Kalia." Lawon states. Best to keep things open, I suppose.

"Like..." Porsche starts in a confused tone. "What do you mean by that?"

"Like how she just flipped sides and betrayed all of us by joining with Dani!" I explain.

"Do either of you have any ideas? Cause I'm drawing a blank." Keith informs. "I get why Dominic would be so quick to change sides, but something isn't right..."

"Maybe Kalia's America's player!" Lawon throws out there. "It could be some sort of twist!"

"That's actually very possible. I've seen that happen, where America's choice gets a vote for whoever they choose as their player." I recall. "It could be some sort of twist that she doesn't have control over."

"I think... maybe she and Dani had an alliance from the start, and she was just up here doing Daniele's dirty work." Porsche suggests.

"Wait, like how?"

"Cause remember? She was the one who pitched the idea of putting up one of the veterans!" She reminds. That's right... "And I thought that was a terrible idea too! So the only explanation really is if Dani told her to come up here and be our buddy until she convinced you to put up who Daniele wanted!"

"Ohhh..!"

"Makes sense!"

"Wait..." Keith pauses. "If Dani wanted specific people out, why have Kalia up here? Why not just do it herself?"

"For one..." I reason. "None of the veterans came to talk to me about game until Eval started yelling at me. If she came up here and started making deals, it would set her aside as an enemy to the other veterans." I explain, still partially explaining to myself. "But since she had Kalia, a newbie come up here, it was easier for her because she wouldn't have to do the dirty work, and keep the target off her back."

"That..." Porsche agrees. "And the fact that we already know Daniele's not the type to walk up here and make friends. We had no idea about Kalia though... which made it easier to deceive us."

"So what you're saying is Kalia's been on Dani's side the whole time?" Keith summarizes.

"It makes the most sense!" I comment.

"...but wait!" Lawon interrupts with new doubt. "Kalia talked to Mel here before anyone else in the house."

"Right, she helped me with my bag." I confirm.

"So how could she know to act friendly if she and Dani didn't even have an alliance yet?" He reasons.

Ohh...

"I think..." He continues. "There's gotta be some sort of twist that-"

"Oh my god! Kalia's gay!" Cassi finally speaks up.

...what?

We all looked at her with curiosity... how the hell did she know that...?

"Kalia told me the first night that she just broke up with her girlfriend about a month before the show." She explains. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone else about it, but you guys are just making this was too complicated!"

"So... what does that have to do with her flipping sides?" Porsche questions.

Cassi sighs. "Remember the first thing you said when we were up here? Daniele charmed Dominic to do whatever she demands?"

Wait for it... wait for it...

"Ohhh!" Porsche finally realizes.

"Yep."

"Man, Daniele used her white witch powers to attach strings to Kalia! It's the third day in and she's already becoming the puppet master!" Lawon states.

This is good. I have more people on my side then I though!

"So where do we go from here?" I ask.

"You put her up on the chopping block," Keith reminds. "I know the plan was to get Dick out right away, but if any of us win the veto-"

"We can leave her on the block and vote her out!" I finish.

"Bingo!"

Cassi sits in closer. "I'm in with that... as long as no one mentions Kalia's secret."

There's a pause of acceptance.

"So numbers..." Keith begins.

"Nooo, numbers hurt my head!" I whine.

"Mel..." Porsche starts. "We need to think this out."

"...So we have the four of us, and we need at least 7 votes." Keith begins, laying out the details. "Who can we get to vote Dani out?"

"Jeff Jordan Rachel and Brendon." I blurt.

They look at me suspiciously, and then Lawon speaks up. "How can you be so sure?"

"I might have overheard Jeff and Jordan saying they were in an alliance with Eval Dick." I admit.

"Sneaky Tiger! Very sneaky!" Lawon compliments.

"Okay, wait!" Cassi interrupts. "How did the conversation go exactly?

I explain how Jordan was practically telling me to put Dick on the block, and how later I heard Jeff scolding her for practically putting ONE of their alliance members on the block.

"And how do you figure Rachel and Brendon are in on this too?" Cassi objects.

"Well who else would they align with? Adam or Shelly?" I reason.

"As a matter of fact, I overheard something myself." Keith admits.

We await the new information.

"It's not much, but I did see Dick talking some serious game play with Brendon when I got out of the pool."

"What kind of game play?" I ask. "Not to steal your line Cassi, but we do need to be very specific about the information. You know how fast things spread in the house..."

Nods of agreement across the room.

"Basically, I heard Dick say something about if Brendon won the veto to NOT use it, then Brendon said 'understood' and I walked away after that cause I didn't wanna get caught, ya know."

This is peculiar.

"So... we DO know that Dick is in an alliance with Brendon, and in an alliance with Jeff and Jordan." Porsche lies out.

"Just connect the dots! Rachel's on Brendon's side, Brendon's in an alliance with Dick, Dick's in an alliance with Jeff and Jordan, and Jeff and Jordan are in an alliance with more than one person!" Cassi concludes.

"Woo! Pretty, AND smart! You go girl!" Lawon compliments, and gives her a high-five.

"Now that that's sorted out, we know the two major alliances in this game."

"Three, actually." Keith admits.

"Man Keith, why have you been holding back all this information? There's ANOTHER alliance?"

"Well, we have; Dick, Brendon Rachel, Jeff and Jordan on one side..."

"The veterans." I label.

He nods. "Dani, Kalia, and Dominic on the other side..."

"...we'll come up with a cool name for them later. Like, the puppet witch, people."

...no Lawon. Just no.

"And the third?" Cassi asks impatiently.

"The newbie's." Keith smiles. "With Mel, Porsche, Lawon, me, and Cassi."

Ohhh!

"I can get with that!" Lawon says first.

"If you guys are in, so am I." Cassi nods.

Porsche looks at me.

"Whatta you say Mel? Wanna be the ring-leader of a group called 'the newbie's'?"

I look around. The decision seemed rushed, but there were already two alliances formed. We could let them pick us off, one by one, or I can put my false trust into this group.

"...Looks like the newbie's are gonna take over the veteran's house!" I smile.

"Ye-ah! That's what I'm talking about!" Lawon cheers.

And so I've aligned with my group of five. Who knows what Shelly and Adam are gonna do. Probably just be floaters until they get picked off. We'll keep them for now... right now our target is Daniele Donato. Eval can wait... Because without their puppet-master Dani, Dominic and Kalia are useless! It's like killing three very annoying birds with 8 votes! And once we break up that alliance, it'll be the five newbie's against the five vets. All we have to do is have one of the five newbie's win the veto. That's like... five to four to three. Us five for nominations to stay the same, four (Brenchel and JJ) to take Eval off, and Dani's crew of three to take her off. That leaves three wild-cards, including Dick. Who knows what he's gonna do if he's asking Brendon to use the veto on him? 5+4+3+3 = 15... at least I have something right! But how?

Even though we can't ALL play in the veto, the odds are in our favor! Three people will be picked, and our group has a better shot then Dani's. Four to two.

And you know what? If Brendon or one of the vets take off Eval, who cares? I'll just throw a pawn on the block and Daniele's fate is sealed! Poof!

Eight to two. Eight people can be picked and I would be more ten happy. And, I mean, common. What's the odds that Kalia and Dominic are picked, along with Shelly or Adam? Let's be serious... I have to have at least ONE person helping me!

By now all were filtered out in staggered times. We actually weren't up there all that long, for everything we covered. Cassi stayed behind, though. We discussed the odds of the Veto competition, which resulted in the large paragraph above.

"So basically we have it covered, in most likely hood." Cassi confirms.

"Let's put it this way; it's highly unlikely that the odds won't be in our favor. ...if you can follow that." I explain.

"Yeah, I gotchu." She nods.

"Good! Cause I don't really know what I just said!" I laugh.

"...Mel you can't let Dani suck you in." Cassi says, completely changing the subject.

"What? No! Are you kidding? I know her game, I'm not gonna-"

"That's exactly what Kalia said." She sighs with disappointment. "She told me she had a crush on Dani, and she TOLD me it wasn't gonna effect her game play, but Daniele was just too clever. Too _tempting._" Cassi explains.

"Cassi, I understand, really." I urge. "I'm not gonna fall under her 'white witch powers' as Lawon would say. ...I'm strait."

I could feel the questioning through her stare. She tilted her head down and looked up at me, as if to convey disbelief.

"...really." I state, and try to mimic her stare.

"... I think you're cute."

What?

"W-what?"

"SEE!" She scolds. "I told you that yesterday and you lit up like a Christmas tree!"

"Do gay people even have Christmas?" I wander off the topic.

"Melanie! If you show ANY signs like that in front of Dani she will swoop in and take advantage. Trust me! She will manipulate you, and pretend to be your friend, and tease you and make you do her dirty work and-" Cassi lists.

"Just stop!" I squint with my hands over my ears. "Okay, okay. You caught me off guard." I admit. "But that doesn't mean I'm gay. ...or bi or lesbian of whatever." I defend.

She looks at me with that same pressuring glare.

"...really." I sigh.

"Mel if you let Dani catch you off guard like that with me or her or any female in the house, she'll be after you like a shark!" She explains with concern. "Just... I don't care what you are; just don't show any signs of even being bicurious, okay?"

"But I'm not!"

"Melanie!" She grunts.

"Okay okay!" I give. "I promise, I promise! Just... stop with the creepy glare."

She accepts my response, even if she was still unsure. Who can blame her though? Kalia betrayed us both, so it's hard to trust anyone.

"...so if you're so strict on me keeping a, per-se 'strait' reputation, I assume we don't have to mention my... off-guard moments to anyone else?" I confirm awkwardly.

"As long as you don't betray the newbie's, then yes. I'll keep your secret." She compromises.

"...thanks."

What? Don't look at me like that! I just got Cassi to stop, and I don't need you starting with that eye glare. I'm strait!

...really.

Cassi left after this and I lay in my room to think about veto. Best case scenario, worst case scenario, the odds of a fair balance... which were not good with the advantage going to the newbie's.

"Dani will leave for sure." I assure myself. "And it'll be one hundred less things for me to worry about, whereas if Eval left, it would probably only reduce ninety nine." I exaggerate, laugh to myself, and shut my eyes.

It's been two hours since breakfast. The first half hour was figuring out where the power lies within the house, and maybe another 15 minutes forming our alliance and deciding who we really want gone, and all the stuff in-between. Another half hour goes towards my conversation with Cassi about veto and my possible weaknesses. If I could add that all up, I could give you a number of how long I've been sitting and listening to music. ...but I'm so sick of numbers at this point I think I'm going to throw up math-equations.

On the telescreen, I see Daniele and her rat-pack have left the kitchen. I guess it's safe to go down and grab a drink. Maybe play an improv game? I need some actual social time after all the game talk.

That's the second part of my strategy; part one being LOSE the first HoH competition. That didn't work, but it turns out things worked out anyway.

The second part is to equally divide my social time and my game time. If I make friends and stay in the loop, then when it comes to game talk, I'll be included. Plus... it'll help the insanity go down if I spend time relaxing and talking with people as friends.

The very third part of my plan is to make a bold move. If I survive it, then people will respect me for it and remember it when it comes time for votes! No one's gonna remember the first week, though. And it's not even that big a deal anymore now that I KNOW other people have my back. We'll wait and see what opportunities arise in the future.

I pour myself a glass of chocolate milk and sit at the high-tops. Shelly sat next to me, but didn't say anything relevant, other than she was waiting for her anchovies to cook.

There are two things in this world that I refuse to eat, and they would be fish and eggs. ...and fish eggs. ...okay three things! But I think fish eggs would fall under one of those categories, if not both. Seafood or animal products?

I ponder a bit longer on the subject, until she gets up to check on her fried fish bits. I move to the animal-print room at that point.

Lawon's napping... Well since Dick's in the death-metal room sleeping and Kalia's in the pink room reading, then that leaves me with the gym-room, or outside.

...Daniele and Dominic are outside, Rachel's in the gym-room. Which is more risky? Possible humiliation from Rachel, or possible confrontation with the rats?

"Heeey, Rachel!" I greet.

She looks at me with a 'go away' expression.

There's only one cure for a glare like this...

"So I was hoping we could get everyone together and play poker?" I inform her, and her mood changes entirely.

"Oh yeah! I'll go see who's gonna play.

We gather Lawon, Adam, Porsche, Brendon, and Jeff. Plus me and Rachel makes six of us! ...ew numbers! Ew! They're all over the cards! Eeeeew!

"Mel? You pass or play?" Rachel asks, and it snaps me out of my phase.

"Uh, Play!" I answer. She deals me two cards.

...the numbers. I am touching the numbers! I, I just can't handle this.

"Fold." I call when it gets around to me. I couldn't quite read the numbers on the cards anymore, and was feeling dizzy, so no point in calling or raising when I can't compute this anyway.

The fourth day rolls around that we've been in this house, and it's almost time for the Veto comp. Everyone sat on the couch as I read the rules for the competition on the card given to me in the diary room.

"Big brother will let us know when the competition is to begin." I recite, and then hold the card down. We disperse and get into the game mood.

The vets were in the Death-Metal room, discussing scenarios and odds. They had no idea we were actually on their side for this one, or that there even is a 'we'! They're odds were so off!

Cassi suggest the five of us quiz each other, but Keith seems sure that they won't do another trivia competition.

"Well I've seen the show, and they've never done two in a row like that." Keith reasons. "They spread the high-points out, that way the power has less chance of ending up in the same spot.

Makes sense.

"We should just rest up and make sure we're in the best condition possible." He suggests.

I agree. We all seem to follow his logic, and break our chat circle when Jordan enters the room. By the time she came in, we all looked pretty natural.

Whatta you all think the competition's gonna be?" She asks, asking Cassi and I.

"Psh, like I know." Cassi laughs. "You're the one with all the experience!"

"Well I don't know either. Jeff thins it's gonna be an endurance, but it's really really hard to tell at the beginning." She says.

I kept thinking... Jordan? Why? Jeff specifically asked you not to help us, which includes giving advice! Cassi kept her mouth shut, so why don't you go back and be loyal to your group, and stop getting me and yourself in trouble with Jeff!

"Well best of luck to you all!" She says.

"You too." Cassi replies.

"COMMON KALIA YOU'VE GOT THIS!" Dani shouts from the side. Oh, I hope she's not serious...

Today's veto was a mix between speed and accuracy, and some endurance. We had to 'milk' these stupid plastic goats, and carry the cup with the gripy handle in your mouth, and the cup is full of spoiled goat milk, and you're expected to carry it across a fucking beam to the other side and pour it in this stupid slot, which you could never get all the milk in without slipping and falling or moving your neck in some twisted backwards double-jointed position, which apparently none of us had that ability.

Dani was the very first won out! Common! Like... at least fight for your own safety! I think she feels pretty secure, and also considered that if Kalia or Dominic won, they'd be safe for the week too.

That's right. Kalia and Dominic. Both, the last two people I didn't want to play in the veto- no. The ONLY two people I didn't want to play, and here they are. The third person selected to play was Rachel, which I would have been happy with if she didn't suck at this particular competition!

But Dominic fell off shortly after Rachel, who fell five minutes after Dani.

It's fair, in an unfair way. Me for nominations stay the same, Kalia for Dani comes off the block, and Dick for... who knows what he's gonna do! We suspect he'll either take himself or Dani off, but with his unpredictable nature, he may just leave the nominations as they are! ...yeah but that would just be too perfect.

"Right now it's a three-way tie between Melanie, Dick, and Kalia. Kalia, being only slightly ahead." Shelly announces off the card.

Picking the host is so hard! Because you don't wanna pick your favorite person, in chance of reveling your alliance, and you don't wanna pick your enemies, and I was contemplating picking Jordan cause Jordan's just a universal adorableness, but then Jeff might get mad at her again for being my friend so that left me with our two floatables, Shelly and Adam.

I guess floaters are good for something after all!

"Common Kalia! You got this. You got this!" Dani chanted. Her cards were laid out face up and highlighted in bright yellow marker... she had absolutely nothing to hide and made sure everyone knew. The cheers for Kalia were more like bragging about her alliance. Her achievement to whore herself out for power, in a sense. I can't stand it! It's almost as this goat milk.

"Ahh!"

We hear, and to my right I see Kalia, face down on the grass.

YES!

"Kalia! You have been illuminated from the competition! Please take a seat on the bench." Shelly announces.

That was my biggest concern. Now all I have to do is beat Eval. I've beat a veteran once... I can do this...

I wish I could see Dani's face right now. Porsche told me afterwards that when Kalia fell, Dani became furious with her! She treated her like she treated her father for the past three years... silence and zero acknowledgement.

I just need to focus, and maybe if I don't pay attention to anything else, I can-

"DING DING DING DING DING!" A buzzer ran through the yard.

Did I win?

"Congratulations, Dick!"

Why is Shelly calling me a dick? ...oh wait...

"You have won the Golden Power of Veto!" Shelly congratulates, and puts the large object around his neck.

Fuck. This will no doubt result in hours of gloating and taunting, and a continuation to the bad-mouthing. Just what I need.

"What's in store for the houseguests now that Dick holds the-"

Julie's voice echoes before she remembers to lift her finger from the button.

"Hmhmhm, stay tuned to find out!" He snarls. This is not the happy ending I envisioned!

So, hopefully, as we all pile into the living room, Dick decides he's going to take himself off the block, and I put up a pawn (which we all discussed earlier today), and... the world will continue to be a happy, Dani-less place!

But first, in the words of Julie Chen, Dick has the opportunity to give his rival the chance to plead her case.

In earlier seasons you were expected to ask, even if you were on the block. I think in time they made it an option weather to ask if they'll speak, because the pattern became so predictable!

Person on block: (stands) Well, uh, you won the veto, and, uh, you're gonna take yourself off! You would be crazy not to! But... uh... yeah that's it. (Sits)

I've also seen it where someone has won the veto, and were not on the block nor HoH, and didn't ask if they wanted to speak. Maybe they cut out that part, but still, this is very important. Why?

If Dick is not required to ask Daniele to plead her case, will he do it anyway? Just to force her to talk to him? And the question is... does Dani even have to give a 'speech'? ...this is gonna be interesting!

"I, as the holder of the Golden Power of Veto, now have the power to change Melanie's nominations." He recites, not even looking at the teleprompter but repeating it word for word.

...nominations! Hehehe! Nom nom nom! ...okay you know what? That goat-milk is getting to my head... this is crazy! FOCUS TIME!

"Before I make my decision, I would like to give each nomine the chance to plead his or her case." He smiles devilishly.

"Daniele, you may start." Eval prompts.

Dani doesn't look up, or sway her sightline by a centimeter. After a pause that seemed to last for hours...

"Go to hell."

A couple of us moved our heads back, while the others popped their eyes out. Sassy!

"I have chosen..."

He has to look at the teleprompter for this, because it tells him how long he needs to wait.

"To, use the power of veto."

My heart was pounding a hundred miles a second! It's absolutely killing me! Tearing me to shreds! ...OH JUST SAY IT ALREADY!

"...on my daughter Daniele."

Few... I can finally-

WHAT?

"Melanie, since I have now changed the nominations, it is your duty as head of household to choose a replacement nominee."

We just assumed, odds and all, that Dani wasn't coming off the block. We never discussed this scenario! Oh... Lawon was right! We were forgetting something!

I look at Jordan... this is the best thing for both alliances... no matter how hard it's gonna be.

"...Jordan. Please take a seat next to Dick on the chopping block."

She does so, and the vets and floaters look shocked.

I return to my spot next to Cassi and avoid tears. Dick takes the attention now.

"This veto meeting is adjourned." He concurs, placing the PoV necklace in its box.

...Just so you know. When we all stand up from meetings like this, we don't ACTUALLY stand up in slow motion. Just Lawon, cause he's crazy like that.

It usually gets a laugh or two, but in such tense situations like this... not so much.

Immediately I invite Jordan up to my room. She and Jeff oblige, and we head upstairs.

As far as the vets were concerned, this is what I wanted to happen all along! My initial plan was to put Dani up with the chance that if Dick won PoV, he would take his daughter off over his own safety. If it were still day two, things would be just swell! So I have to pretend it's still day two, and bring that 'method acting' ability out.

We enter the room and wait for the door to shut by itself.

I speak before they have the chance.

"You are not my target! Neither of you." I finish.

"Whoa! Chill out." He commands, and puts is hands in a falling motion, like telling a dog to heel.

"We know you're not targeting us, and I'm fine going up as a pawn, but-"

"But next time you need to give us a warning in advance!" Jeff interrupts Jordan mid-sentence.

"Right, uh... I know that sorta came out of the blue, but really I just want Dick gone. He's my target, like... you guys are safe with me, okay? I promise." I finish. "We cool?"

"Yeah." Jordan smiles. It was a relief to know she didn't totally hate me.

They start to exit. "Advance warning in the future, okay?" Jeff confirms. I give him the thumbs up.

"Well if you can't get Daniele out, at least we should get rid of her biggest ally!" I defend against Lawon's heated issue.

"All I'm saying is, why not put up one of her people? THEY ARE the Vets targets! No one would blame you!" He comes back.

"Guys..." Porsche complains.

"And what then?" I counter. "They just think it's a coincidence I happen to put up the person they want and just, go along with it?"

"ARE YOU FORGETTING, THAT KALIA, HAS BETRAYED YOU! They would understand! And be more than happy to vote her out."

"Right, because all 'floaters', meaning you five PLUS Shelly and Adam, go against the HoH and vote out Kalia, when right now they all believe I still want Dick out?" I reply, even more enraged.

"All I'm saying is that-"

"You GUYS!" Porsche repeats in a louder tone.

"WHAT?" We respond at the same time.

"There's no point in arguing about the secrecy of our alliance if everyone on the first floor can HEAR you!"

...oh.

Me and Lawon shoot each other a glare. This isn't over.

"I think what's done is done, and there's no point in arguing something we can't go back and change." Keith agrees.

What matters is that the target on my back is decreasing with Daniele's safety in the house. I took the time to really think things through, and, in my own best interests, maybe it's best if Dani stay for a little. Just until this first week is forgotten.

"I'm gonna go to bed before people start to wonder where we all went to at three in the morning." Cassi announces

"Just tell them you were at Chili's! " Keith suggests. "With their 7 irresistible sides, juicy baby-back ribs, and hot-served chili dogs, where else would you be?"

"...really Keith?" I challenge. "Does it LOOK like the girl eats Chili's? She weighs two pounds!"

"...and, you know, just in case you forgot, we're IN the big brother house." Cassi reminds.

"Something that SOME PEOPLE..." Lawon glances at me. "Seem to forget?"

"Oh you-"

"Okay, okay!" Porsche whispers. "Everyone to bed, now!"

"...yes mama." I pout, and the crew leaves the room.

I guess after this we just wait for the eviction, and... see which group the power falls to. But for now... sleep.

After a few seconds of discussion over lunch, Lawon decided there's no point in arguing over something that's already been done.

"But we should start thinking about situations like this before they happen next time." He notes.

"Definitely." I agree.

Adam walks in the kitchen, where we were discussing, and our short conversation comes to an end.

"Melanie, can I talk to you for a sec?" He interrupts.

Lawon steps out of the room, but I can still see him peaking over the corner.

"Sorry to take up your time, I just wanted to see, you know, who everyone's voting out..." He begins. "I assume the plan is to take Eval out?"

"Yeah." I nod.

He shakes my hand. "Alright! Just making sure things haven't changed! Thanks for the talk!" And leaves.

Lawon enters from the different direction, after Adam's out of sight. "Whatta you think all that was about?"

I shrug. "He probably just wants to make sure he's on the majority side of the votes. It's best we don't think anything of it."

"...I guess... but I don't know about him. What if he-"

"Best," I remind. "Not to think about it."

Cassi called me up to the dungeon. We were sitting up there now.

"So what's this about?" I ask, wanting to get right to the point.

"News flash on team vets!" She begins in a hurried tone. "Daniele's not their number-one target!"

"Cassi, I already knew this. Did you miss the part where Dick took Daniele off the-"

"They all want YOU gone."

...huh?

"Well, okay, but..." I begin, uneasy. "I know that they don't exactly LIKE me, but... you're not suggesting I'm their number-one target... right?"

...

"Cassi, I'm like, second or third on their list!"

"Not according to miss blabber-mouth Rachel." She sighs. "They're talking about how you're 'building an army', and they wanted to make sure I wasn't going to side with you."

"...oh no..."

"Mel..."

Okay... let's think...

"Obviously they're a little far behind. Since, you know, they don't KNOW that we all decided on this together?"

"Melanie, aren't you concerned?" She asks.

Of course I'm concerned! "I'm concerned that someone from our group has a loud mouth, and told someone something that lead them to believe I've been pulling together an alliance."

"Look, fact of matter is, there's a good chance you'll be going up next week." She sighs. "We'll call Porsche up later and discuss this, but right now don't mention anything to the boys, okay?"

If we want to resolve anything we're going to have to include them at some point...

Still, if what Cassi's told me is true, then we really need to watch our backs about meetings like this. The vets think Cassi is not aligned with anyone yet; it needs to stay like this. She hurries back down before Brendon or Rachel notice she'd ran up here to begin with. Thank god.

Have you heard that song 'Shark in the Water'? The song describes how this female who's feeling a little lonely, so she makes up lies and pretends she's scared to get close to a certain guy.

But the first time you hear a song, its different then the twentieth.

I heard it on a commercial. It was a music video type thing, and there were a group of teens at a carnival. My conception of this song the very first time I heard it was... These teens were all friends, but they had the thought that 'maybe there's a shark in the water'. The water representing the group itself, and the shark like a weasel, who's really only there to eat up all the other fishies.

Does that make sense? It slightly reminds me of the possibility that one of our crew could be unreliable. It happened with Kalia, and I knew coming in to the agreement was a risky move, but it was the only way to make sure I had SOME people behind me.

And now the vets think I'm going against them. Or at least, that's what Brendon and Rachel believe. And they'll try to make Jordan believe she's another 'target' of mine and I'll have the entire house against me and the world will blow up! ...or maybe Jordan will come to me before just taking their word for it? She seems like a sensible girl.

In the mean time... is it possible for me to convince the vets that I want Dani out? That's she's MY number-one target? It might earn some trust points. But how would I go about this...

Later the same day big brother informed us that we were not to go outside. After three and a half hours of waiting for the black screen to be lifted...

"Guys! The door's gonna open!" Dominic calls from the kitchen.

We listen to it unlatch, and come rushing in from all over the house.

What's the big surprise that we'd been waiting forever for...?

...

...

"Its corn hole?" Jordan states in disgust we enter the yard.

"Almost four hours of being locked in the house for this rickety piece of cardboard?" Adam notes, also feeling a tinge of disappointment.

I was pretty happy. I used to play corn hole all the time! I didn't know what it was called until today, but I have pretty good hand-eye coordination.

For those of you who have played the 'game where you throw the sand-bag in the circle', that's corn hole. Now you know!

We all grabbed some bean-bags, ignoring the coloration, and threw three each to see how many points we could get. Dani had to explain the rules to everyone on how points work, and everyone who didn't already know how to play caught on pretty fast.

After some warm up rounds a few people lost interest, while a lot of us were ready to do an actual competition we drew names out of competition chip bag to see who would go against whom.

"Dominic!" Kalia smiles when she pulls the chip.

"Uhh, Shelly!" I read off the chip I'd pulled.

"Dani." Adam reads off when the bag was passed to him.

"Wait, that just leaves me!" Porsche realizes when there's an odd number of people.

"I'll play too guys." Jeff announces, re-entering the yard.

Dominic beat Kalia; Shelly beat me... by luck. And Dani beat Adam, and Jeff beat Porsche!

Soon it's down to the final two... Jeff against Dani. As much as I hate to admit it, Dani was pretty amazing at this game.

"And it's tied! Nine to Nine!" Rachel calls. Since the competition got good, everyone else pretty much came back out.

It's Jeff's throw... we all wait for his move...

"Ohhh!" the crowd sighs when he misses the board completely.

Dani steps up with her last pink bean-bag.

1, 2, 3, BANG! Right in the center! A perfect game!

"Yaaaaay!" We all clap respectfully. She smiles at her victory, and then resets the board.

Those who didn't play the first round now played. Porsche drew a layout of competitors, and since there was an odd number...

"I can go again, if you guys need me to." Jeff offers.

"I say winner has to face the champion!" Adam suggests. We all agree, and Dani looks a little flattered.

"Oh, no. No. I'm not THAT good..." She replies bashfully.

Of course when it came down to Dick and Dani, the final two, Dani easily defeat her father.

For the first time in five days, the house felt united. We laughed and cheered, and took turns playing and talked about our out-of-house lives. It was like orientation all over again!

Lots of these things come out of these people when they're drinking... Kalia confesses to being bisexual, which leads to Dominic telling us he doesn't have a girlfriend! Cassi admit she wasn't really a waitress at hooters, but a professional model. I so called it! No wonder she had all that improv experience. Even Shelly came clean on her actual age, which no one questioned to begin with, but at least she was trying to be part of the conversation.

"What about you Mel?" Dominic asks.

"Me? No I'm really eighteen!" I laugh.

"No, I mean, what's your secret?" He corrects.

My secret?

"Yeah, lighten up Melanie! It's sharing day!" Shelly blubbers. ...can she come up with fake holidays like that?

"Well that is my secret!" I say, avoiding saying something that might hinder my game.

"You being eighteen aren't a secret!" She reasons. ...damn.

"Common." Dominic pressures. "Tell us something, that, none of us would ever think unless you told us about yourself."

"I bet she's like some sort of super star? Huh?" Adam guesses. "She's some famous person in the teenager world! What's that... Helena Gomez person?"

"SELENA Gomez." I correct. "Her name is Selena Gomez, it's not that hard to pronounce! Jeez..."

"HEY EVERYONE! MELANIE'S HELENA GOMAZ!" Adam shouts.

No one really paid attention. They were all drunk off their asses. Big brother really needs to stop stocking the fridge with alcohol...

"Adam, I'm not Selena Gomez." I sigh. "I don't really have a secret, but if I think of one I'll be sure to tell you, alright?" With that, I get up and head inside.

"You know just cause you're 18 doesn't mean you can't, like, TALK to people who are drinking." Jeff explains.

"I know..." I sigh. "But I just feel really awkward around... drunk people."

"You know, Dani said the same thing a couple days ago." He recalls.

Where IS Dani?

Come to think of it, she came in after winning the corn hole game and I haven't seen her since.

"Well I'm going back out there. Why don't you come with instead of hiding away in your dungeon?" He suggests, and then waits at the door.

"That's okay. Thanks."

He shrugs and leaves, and I head up to the HoH room.

"There's gotta be something!" I hear from outside my door. "Some sort, of secret..."

"..."

I turn the lock and open there door, and there was Dani, froze like a deer in headlights.

"Dani?" I accuse. "What are you doing in here? This is my HoH room!"

"Yeah, for like, two more days!" She glares, and then continues to knock on the walls. "But then it's mine. So go back outside and play your stupid corn hole game, and do whatever it is you do, while I find the secret switch that opens the secret door."

Feisty!

"Or, you can get out of my room, and I WON'T tell Kalia and Dominic where you were." I threaten.

"They were looking for me...?" She asks, almost annoyed-like. "God damn it!"

She then storms downstairs angrily and starts searching for her teammates. Did I lie to her? Yes. But what's she gonna tell them. 'Oh, Melanie told me you were looking for me while we were in her HoH room'. Riiiight.

The next few days went by very slow. Eval Dick knew he was going home, but he felt proud he'd saved his daughter. He figured he'd just enjoy the last few days in the house and have fun! Turns out when he's not playing the game, he's not as intimidating. As a matter of fact he's really easy to talk to!

Then eviction day came...

"Before the voting begins, each nominee will have a chance to plead their case and Jordan, you're up first." Julie announces from the television. Jordan stands and starts her speech, only half caring with the subtext of 'whatever, I'm safe bitches!' ...'cept Jordan would never say that.

"Alright. Well, it's been great getting to know y'all this week. Aaaand, if you keep me that's great!"

"Thank you Jordan." Julie replies after waiting a moment.

We expected Dick's speech to be something similar. A three second sentence pretending like he doesn't want to go, but really is...

Oh, no.

Since the veto he's been acting passive and chill, but it's apparent this was all an act for a greater purpose...

"Alright! How much time I got? Wait, I don't give a shit."

We all snap out of our routine faces and look at him almost confused.

"There are obviously alliances that have already formed. We know two of them, they have nothing to hide. They are not your threat."

He was talking so fast, trying to squeeze all this information in! They are not a threat... hmm...

"I'm warning you there is a secret alliance in the house. Those people are Cassi Lawon and Porsche with their ring leader-" He pauses, actually taking a moment to point me out. "Melanie."

All eyes fall on me. It was for a brief second, but enough to make me realize what he's trying to do.

With that he takes his seat, smiling and seeming proud with himself.

He knew all along Dani was my target. He also knew she was the Vet's target as well. In a final effort to preserve his daughter's game, he tried to take the target from her back and put it on mine. He saw that what I was doing was no different than Dani; building an alliance to go after another alliance. The flaw with Dick's plan was, the vets didn't see me and the newbie's as much of a threat as Daniele.

With a vote of 14 to 1, Dick was voted out of the house. No one was going to vote Jordan out, which I knew the moment I decided to put her on the block. I assume Daniele was the one person to keep Dick in the game. She at least owes him her vote. It didn't really help her out too much; it just proves how much she's going against the Veterans.

Dick turned this house upside down and it's only the first week! It'll take some time before we can flip it back to where it was. I'm sure no matter how close we get, things are going to be severely different in this house...


	2. Lawon's secrets

Ch 2; Lawon's secret(s)

We all recompose and get used to the new environment. Almost instantly things seem a little calmer with Dick gone. ...or maybe it's just my fears sub-siding. Whatever the case, it's time for the next veto.

Hear me out on this... I DON'T want my team winning the HoH. But now that our secret alliance is exposed, there's no reason we shouldn't fight.

Minutes before the HoH, I caught up with Porsche and Cassi separately. I told them very quickly not to win unless Dani or her team can still win. Who knows what the competition's gonna be like, but I figure if we can just stay in the middle until we know for sure one of the vets can win it, we can still lose the competition, but beat Dani's team in case they look like they're about to win.

It goes like this. Cassi figured this part out and told us afterwards, just in case we need it for the future.

Endurance; only falter if all of Dani's team has already fallen or quit.

Speed/agility; keep the amounts to a medium of all players

Trivia; get all the answers right until all of Dani's team are out

Puzzle (visible); stay as close to the same as the fastest person

Puzzle (not visible to other players); go all out

Skill/points; keep the point's right under the leaders

Estimation; make your numbers look like a pattern, but as accurate as possible

Logic; keep it at average skill level

...the estimation idea was mine. It really worked out for me this week!

As for the rest, the key idea is like I said earlier; only pull out and try to win if one of Team Dani is about to win. We have quite a few skills among us, but we've decided to limit our numbers to ONLY the three of us. Keith and Lawon... who knows if their word is good!

Our plan would have worked out great if any one of us were good at endurance! Unfortunately, we were the first three off. But, hey. I think we gave it our best go.

We had to hang upside down from a swinging bar. The backyard looked like a carnival! Me, Cassi, and Porsche got to enjoy caramel corn and being 'have's' for the week.

No, no. Not 'Halves'. Halves would be like saying we're half's, and that's just too much math for my brain. Big brother does this 'have' and 'have not' thing now. They sorta did it before, but instead of forcing the houseguests on 'big brother slop' or making them sleep in some super hard uncomfortable room, they made them eat PB&J all week. ...and they didn't have al cool name for it.

The three of us, plus the next 9 people who fall off get to be have's for the week. Out of the last five, four will be have not's. The last one stand-err... HANGing, win HoH for the week.

Thank god the vets won anyway. Bad news for Dani and her rat pack, cause now Rachel's in the driver's seat!

Through the week it was a battle of the Vets Vs. team Dani. Lawon and Keith quit talking to the three of us about game or an alliance or anything, and I maybe thought it was because one of them slipped for votes or safety or something.

We talked before the nominations, however. Turns out they both thought it was one of us that spilled to Eval.

"Well it wasn't me, and it definitely wasn't Melanie." Cassi explains. "You know, unless she was asking for a death wish..."

"I kept my mouth shut!" I assure them.

"I didn't say anything to anyone either." Porsche nods.

"Keith and I sure as hell didn't." Lawon defends. "So obviously, either someone out of our alliance found out and told him about it, or one of us is lying."

"Well wait a second..." Porsche starts.

God... there's too many possibilities. Too many of those 'wait a second!' moments, where we go back and realize we may have missed something.

"You say we're all telling the truth, but I haven't heard Keith say he didn't talk with Dick." Porsche points out, and we all eye him momentarily.

"I didn't." He says plainly, trying not to get a temper and cause a scene in the have-not room.

Keith was a have not, and Lawon was just in there when we came in. It seemed everyone else was talking game; making deals, kissing butt, all the typical 'don't put me on the block!' type thing. We were alright for now.

"What I want to know is why Dick didn't call your name when he was naming people from our alliance then." Porsche says, still squinting cautiously in his direction.

He shrugs.

Lawon was looking pretty quiet over there in the corner too. They were both suspects, regarding the three of us ladies. Maybe they're the floater type too, along with Shelly and Adam. ...or maybe they're on team Dani?

Kalia pretended to be in an alliance with us to get info and such. Maybe one or both of them are really on her side. But... considering that they haven't had any luck in this game so far... it seems highly unlikely.

So what is it? What are the boys hiding? Maybe they made a deal with Dick that we didn't know about. Maybe they made a deal with the all the vets and we didn't know about it! Maybe they made a deal with the devil! ...oh, wait. I already said Dick.

This whole time, it took me this long to realize; what would Lawon say?

"Maybe there's a twist."

That got Keith's attention, more than it did the others by the looks of it.

"I mean, let's just, play with this idea!" I suggest. "What if-"

"Okay, Melanie? There's a million 'what if's." Cassi sighs. "What if Dick pulled random names out of a hat and said they were in an alliance? What if he stood by the door and heard us talking? What if Dani wasn't the one who voted for him to stay? What if-"

I stop her there. "Exactly! I mean, not the other ones, but with the votes!"

Confusion.

"What if it wasn't Dani who voted Jordan out? What if there's an America's player?" I purpose.

This could lead to many many more 'what if's', but the main point is it would explain things a little better. America's player HAS to vote for whom America picks, and if someone's America's player, and voted separate, then obviously they've had other assignments to keep them busy, probably favoring Dick.

I explain my theory that America favored Dick, and then continue my thought process. "If only we knew for sure who voted Jordan out, we'd know if there's a twist."

"Or not." Lawon shrugs. "I mean, maybe it was just Dani."

"No, I know how Dani plays this game." Porsche contradicts, shaking her head. "She's not the type to really care about people who aren't any use to her anyway."

"Agreed." Cassi says immediately. "And let's be honest; how useful is her father gonna be if he's about to get voted out? We all knew it. Even Dick."

"See, I think Daniele's a rebel. You know, trying to tick off the vets..." Lawon trails.

"That's what I thought too, besides the fact that she owed him." Porsche explains. "But we know Dani is too 'high and mighty' to owe anyone anything, and if you really think about it... if she were to go against the Vets and prove she doesn't need them, wouldn't she TELL her alliance to vote with her?"

...whoa. I never thought of that...

"That's actually a really good point..." I sigh, speaking my mind.

"So are we saying for sure it wasn't Dani?" Keith asks, not catching up with our unraveling conclusion.

"I'm gonna say it's very highly unlikely Dani voted to keep him." I agree.

"Same." Cassi also oblige. "There's a better chance that someone's America's player.

Maybe, there's a shark in the water...

"Whatever the case, those teams are gonna rip each other's heads off." I start, trying to bring things back for now. "We have a while to lay low, not cause any scenes, and NOT talk about who voted Jordan out with ANYONE, okay? Let's think through this and intervene at our regular time, sound like a plan."

They nod. If we all stay here too long it'll start to look suspicious.

I sat in the pink room with Cassi later that same day. It was almost time for the veto, and I was giving her a back rub.

"So I was thinking about this mystery vote..." I start. She and I have a history of being blunt.

"And?" She questions, slightly tensing.

"And I think we have the wrong approach on this."

She sighs. I don't know if she was already relaxed or trying to calm herself down.

"No! Okay, listen... What if it's Lawon?"

"Mel..." She moans, clearly not in the mood for game talk right now. "I don't care if-"

I go on with my sentence sufficient. "He was pretty defensive of the fact that Dani was the one who voted to keep Dick." I explain. "Something just doesn't seem right."

"Too low." She breaths.

"Yeah... like his expectations of this game are suddenly too low!" I agree.

"No..." Cassi trails. "You rubbing too low. The stress is more up in my neck and shoulder region."

"Hey, I'm not a doctor. Gimmi a break."

I sat there and worked on her shoulders for a little longer before she suddenly blurted "Liar!"

"No! I'm seriously not a doctor Cassi!"

"No! Not you, Melanie! I mean, not Melanie you, but I mean- you!" She scrambles. "You're right about Lawon!"

"I am...?" I question.

"About there being something fishy about him." She finishes.

"Oh. Do tell!"

She reminded me of last week's veto. It wasn't so much the competition, but afterwards when Lawon argued with me like crazy! I put Jordan up instead of one of 'Dani's people', and he flipped out on me!

"I admit it would make sense that he'd go tell Dick about the alliance." I debate. "But if he's with the Vets anyway and they all voted for Jordan to stay, what good does it do for him to vote to keep Dick in?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She states, sitting up now. "Lawon's trying to frame Keith!"

Yes. That answers all the oddities so far. The reason Dick didn't call his name, why Lawon speaks for him about 'promises' and 'thinking it was us girls that spilled the secret'. Keith's clueless! He's letting Lawon take over his game, thinking he's safe, when it's pure and obvious sabotage.

It explains all of our 'wait a minutes'. All, except for one.

"Why...?"

We weren't chosen for veto. Did I mention Dani and Dominic are on the block? ...Dani and Dominic are on the block. There. I mentioned it. And you know, we don't really care. We'll be weakling floaters and vote off who the Vets tell us. Unless by some miracle Dani comes off the block AGAIN, we assume she'll be leaving this week.

While we were outside watching, I told Porsche about our memory of last week. She put two and two together, and came up with the same conclusion.

"THAT LIAR!" She whispers.

"I KNOW!" I reply.

"Rachel! You have correctly answered the question!" Brendon shouts "Please pick two more contestants to go against each other!"

"Kalia and Daniele!" She answers instantly.

"We can't talk about game or nothin with Lawon or Keith." Porsche points out.

"Definitely."

It sucks that Kalia won HoH. We were really hoping to get rid of her this week. Rachel now had to pick a replacement nominee, and since she couldn't put up her first choice...

"Keith, please join Dominic on the chopping block."

"CLEARLY!" I drag when Porsche suggests there's something going on with Keith that we don't know about. "And I bet you Lawon know what it is, and is trying to throw him under the bus!"

We sat in the pink room on Cassi's bed. Porsche was on her bed right next to hers.

"Well this is good." Cassi concludes. "We let them go rough it up, and stay under the radar until they've thinned out the numbers."

It wasn't good enough for me.

"I really want to know why Keith stayed hanging like that during the HoH, and WHY Lawon feels he needs to throw him under the bus." I wonder aloud.

"I was thinking that too when it came down to him and Rachel. Why not just fall instead of going on slop for a week...?" Porsche adds.

"I think we just need to let this run its course. Whatever the case, we're done dealing with Lawon or Keith regarding this game. Agreed?" Cassi establishes.

"Sure." I smile.

"No problem."

Keith and Lawon are involved with the Vets. In a very bad manner. It seems like the three of us are the floaters, wading right next to Shelly and Adam. Cassi was absolutely right though, we need to avoid any snooping. Curiosity killed the tiger, after all.

Jordan pulled me to the side during a friendly match of corn hole; her and Jeff against me and Shelly. Jeff was up right now, and Shelly was intensely staring at the board.

"Who are you voting out...?" She asks in hushed tone.

"You tell me." I reply before she steps up for her turn.

I take my throw, and the bag hits Jeff's purple bag and pushes it in. ...oops!

"Aww! Aw, common Mel!" Shelly accuses in a teasing manner. People liked to pick on me in this house, maybe cause I'm just so adorable :3

"Dominic." Jordan states on her walk to the back of the line. "And can you let Porsche know when you talk to her please?"

Jordan doesn't mind talking to me or Cassi, but for whatever reason she and Porsche never really bonded. I'm sure Rachel and Brendon have talked to Adam and Shelly already, so that only leaves us three.

"Three plus three plus four in alliances that I know of, and four wild cards... yep, fourteen. That covers everyone!" Porsche double checks. We all know how reliable my math skills are, after all.

We were sitting in the pink room again, just us two.

"You figure you have the three vote-able Vets, plus the three of us..." I count, referring to votes to evict Dominic.

Porsche holds up six fingers.

"And we really can't know where Shelly and Adam are at, but we can probably say they're voting with the Vets again..."

"Should I count them as positives?" Porsche asks.

"Leave them out right now, just to make sure." I inform, and then continue with my counting. "Keith and Dominic are on the block, so we can't count them, so I guess that's it for for-sure votes for Dominic."

She nods. "As for Keith, Dani and Kalia aren't going to vote out Dominic, so that's two for him."

"Plus Lawon, after the thing with him framing him..." I add

Porsche waits before putting up three fingers.

"So really even if by some miracle Shelly Adam vote to evict Keith..."

"It looks like Dominic is going!" I excite.

Cassi then opens the door and enters the room. "Someone sounds excited." She observes.

"We were doing math." Porsche begins

"Math? Wow Mel, I've never seen you so excited over something that involves numbers and solving!"

"Ey." I point. "Shut up!"

She and Porsche laugh, and give in and join them.

"No seriously, what were you two talking about?" Cassi asks after situating herself.

"I told you! Math!" Porsche repeats. "We were just counting the votes for the week."

"Ohhh, yeah. Aren't you a little too happy Mel?" She asks, with the subtext of 'you're gay'. "What does it matter to us if Keith or Dominic go?"

Porsche didn't really follow, or think much of it.

"Eliminating Dani's alliance?" I guess. "They are our target, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Just checking." She nods and smiles, but looks in my eyes to make sure I'm serious.

...yeah really.

"So these are going to be a slow couple weeks coming up girls..." Porsche says, interrupting the silence. "What are we gonna do?"

"Treadmill, corn hole, cards, improv! Uh... I don't know. It'll like a paid vacation!" I smile. "Except, like, we can't leave, and we get to watch people rip each other's heads off."

"I'm cool with that." Cassi smiles.

"Mel... you and your crazy imagination!" Porsche laughs, then does a small eye roll.

Being HoH makes you safe for the week, but there are countless downsides to being placed in such a position. ...getting candy is not one of these downsides. Anyway my point is, now that I don't have that pressure on my shoulders, everything just seems so un-important.

"And by a vote, of 9 to 2... Keith?" Julie teases.

Keith froze for a second.

"You are safe."

He sighs in relief, and the live audience laughs.

"Dominic, you have been evicted from the big brother house." Julie finalizes.

After standing and hugging Dani for about two years, he finally grabs his bag and heads out the door.

"Finally..." I breathe to myself.

Dani glares at me, and I remember how sensitive of hearing she has.

HoH time! The backyard looks like a sickening replica of my high-school swim team pool.

It was actually a pretty cool competition, minus the math part (Haha! Minus! Hehe!) Each person had a swimming length. It was a standard row, with a giant piece of aquarium glass dividing it in half down the center. This blocked the competitors from going over it, but there was a hole that you could easily fit through to get to the other side. The objective is to grab numbers and mathematical signs like plus, minus, divide, and multiply from the big pile on one side, swim them to the other, and try to make the longest equation that's closest to zero.

It's not like there were any zeros in the pile though, so I couldn't stick with my original plan of placing random numbers and saving a 'times zero' for the end. Also, there were no two of the same number. You can't do 'plus 10 minus 10' or anything like that. The numbers didn't even go that low! They shot up in the hundreds, with about fifty one being the lowest I saw. No round numbers either, not that having them would make it any easier for me anyway.

And you know what? I don't read math language to begin with, so trying to figure out what was what with chlorine water in my eyes didn't help at all! There were numbers all over the bottom too, which I saw Kalia dropping tons of numbers and minus signs. ...or are those divide?

On the other hand, I think I swam faster than even Brendon! My slender figure helped me fit through the hole faster, which probably greatly helped since I don't have big muscle muscles.

My strategy was to hold two or three boards in one hand, use them in a flipper-like manner with a breast-stroke formation to blast me to the hole. A few dolphin kicks get me straight through the hole without any realignment, and then I just threw the numbers on my side!

...I may have had as many numbers and signs on my side as there were on the bottom of the pool, now that I think about it.

But the numbers were too confusing to figure out anyway, as I stated earlier. Way to go big brother! Combine my high point with my rock-bottom weak point. My numbers ended up being some wired ass negative decimal, and since I couldn't have negatives or numbers that weren't whole, ...well clearly I didn't win this HoH.

Not that I was trying to win. But swimming with the boards like that and through the hole and everything and all in all and ect ect? It was a fun edition to my vacation.

"Porsche, your score is too high." Rachel says in her theatrical reading voice. "You have been eliminated from the competition, leaving Jeff and Daniele.

Her number was one of the less-extreme ones compared to some of the others. Me and Jordan were the only ones that turned out with negative decimals. Cassi managed to be the only one with a positive decimal, and the most everyone else's numbers were somewhere in the 100-300 region. Porsche had 20, Brendon had 13, and Jeff had 2.

Rachel was adding up Daniele's final score on the big calculator...

"Daniele, your final score totals to 2. Since your score is higher, you have won head of Household." Rachel reads flatly, without a tinge of excitement in her voice.

"YES!" Daniele cheers and jumps for joy, along with her partner in crime Kalia.

We all sort of fake smiled, besides Rachel, who we all know is going up for getting rid of Dominic.


	3. Brenchel

Ch 3; Brenchel

It's cool. I'm fine. I'm okay. I don't _really_ need to go talk to Dani... I'll be fine...

"You put her on the block." Jordan reminds me.

We just came in and were drying off in the wash-room. Jeff was there too.

"Melanie she's gonna put Rachel up saying she evicted Dominic, and honestly it's between you and Brendon going up next to her." Jordan admits.

"We're just giving you a fair warning. Chances are you are going up." Jeff honestly states. "The other veterans are her main target, and she'll want a pawn that she won't mind getting rid of if it comes to it. YOU already don't like her..."

I hate the facts...

"So she'll put you up, try to win the veto, then take you OFF the block and put up Brendon." Jeff continues. "She's putting you up there instead of Brendon in hope you'll use it on yourself. But like I said if one of us or Rachel win the veto, ..."

_SHWWWWWIP! _Off with my head!

"Just letting you know what to expect." Jeff shrugs, and then pitches his towel.

"You'll be okay." Jordan assures me. "There's still the chance you or Brendon will win veto."

At first I didn't think about it, but it makes sense. Brendon wins, he takes Rachel off, and he can't go up! Dani would have to put someone on the block that I could win against in that case. She gets along with JJ, and I would win out over Shelly, Adam, or the girls in my alliance.

When we got together in the animal print room, it didn't look that bad actually.

"Best case scenario." Cassi starts. "You, Dani, or Kalia win veto."

This way I come off, and Brendon goes up.

"Okay-ish scenario." Porsche continues. "Brendon, me, or Cassi win the veto.

Brendon winning means I go up against one of my alliance, unfortunately, since Dani won't put up Jeff and Jordan and make even more people hate her. I would be safe, but Cassi or Porsche would go up, unless Lawon, Shelly, or Adam do something to piss her off. Those three have been treading carefully in the middle of the Vets and team Dani.

Cassi or Porsche winning would also keep me safe, and I'm sure Brendon would go up in my place, but it'll make our secret alliance official, which would make us a target.

"Worst case scenario... Adam, Shelly, Jeff, Jordan, Keith, or Lawon win veto." I conclude. "And the vets vote me out.

"You'd have ours and Kalia's vote, if that makes you feel any better." Porsche confides, rubbing my shoulder.

"It really doesn't" I sigh

Brendon, Jeff, and Jordan would vote to keep Rachel, while Shelly, Adam, Keith, and Lawon will just vote with them! Better to not vote against the Vets, since they have the numbers.

"That's 7 to 3, and unless we want to take our chances with the floaters..."

"And we know how well that worked..." Cassi pouts in memory of Lawon's deception.

We sigh in unison.

"Then we make sure you win this thing Mel!" Porsche concludes. "And if me or Cassi get picked, we'll take you off the block too. You got five people fighting for you!"

Well, four. Technically Brendon's fighting for Rachel, which will in turn save both of us.

"Thanks guys, but I wouldn't expect you to put yourselves out there." I reply.

"Of course we will!" Cassi counters. "We're not just gonna sacrifice you, are you kidding?"

"Well... Thank you." I smile, and hug them both.

I might just take Jordan's advice, and have a talk with Dani for now.

"Like, I'm not gonna lie..." Dani starts. She sat on the big round bed in the HoH room, which was sheet less since it wasn't even supposed to be open yet. We haven't even done the whole 'WHO WANTS TO SEE MY HOH ROOOOM' skit yet, so I'll have to pretend I haven't seen all these pictures of her and her family.

I forgot how cute she was as a blond!

...I mean that in a non-homosexual way. I feel like I have to defend myself all the time from Cassi's occasional accusations.

"You're not my target." She states after stretching.

"...okay." I nod, accepting my fate.

"I mean you did the same thing with her when you wanted her dad out, so this is the same type of thing." Kalia explains.

"So, like, I won't say anything, but who _are_ your targets?" I ask, making sure they know its pure curiosity. "I assume Brendon and Rachel?"

"Brendon and Rachel." She repeats. "And if Kalia and I win the veto we will back-door him."

That was Dani's non-admitting way of them saying they're gonna use the veto on me.

"Alright guys..." I yawn "Thanks for letting me know what's up, what to expect."

Neither answer me, and continue to pick and the bed and chair.

I leave.

Dani nominates me and Rachel, with the reasoning that we have not only put her on the block, but were the cause of two of her closest allies leaving the house. All there is to do is wait for the veto competition now.

Kalia, Adam, Jeff and I are sitting outside eating breakfast the next morning. They had a plate of sausage and omelets while I ate a banana. Next thing you know Adam starts prying into Kalia's personal life. Specifically, the topic of her being a lesbian. She didn't mind.

"Like, I was staring to cross into the subconscious bi-curiosity sometime in the seventh grade." She replies in response to Adam's question 'when did you become a lesbian?'

"Okay, so when did you like KNOW you liked girls? When was your first girl crush?" Jeff rephrases.

"I wanna say, like... there's this girl I 'liked' in the seventh grade that I just wanted to hang out with and be friends with really bad for whatever reason, and it wasn't until tenth grade that I actually realized I liked her liked her. But, like, I asked a different girl out before I realized I had a crush on her, so I don't really know... like..."

"Was the first girl you asked out the first girl you realized you were attracted to in a, um... a homosexual type way?"

"Oh, no." She laughs, finding Jeff's sensitivity on the topic humorous. "I use to have a mega crush on Megan Fox when I was starting ninth grade."

"Yeah!" Adam calls, and then slaps Kalia a high-five.

"That's when the fantasizing started." Kalia confirms.

"What _kind_ of fantasizing?" Adam asks, wishing to hear more on the details of lesbian fantasies involving Megan Fox.

...who's Megan Fox?

"Just- innocent stuff! I wondered what it be like to kiss her, or running different scenarios of, like, her asking me on dates..." She blushes.

"Hmh!" I attempt to smile, but the others can just tell how awkward I feel.

_AWWWWKWARRRD!_

"Who was your first actual girlfriend Kalia?"Jeff asks, breaking the awkward silence.

"Like, I guess you could say I never had an actual girlfriend, but I do remember flirting with a lot of girls." A pause. "And asking a lot of girls out."

"Oh." Jeff states, not sure whether to reply with sympathy or even bother.

"Anyone want me to bring their plate in?" I offer, finishing the last of my banana.

"I'm done." Jeff answers, handing me his plate.

"Here." Adam sets his on top too.

"Thanks Mel!" Jeff calls on my way in.

"Thanks kiddo!" Adam chimes in as well.

"No problem guys!" I smile, and quickly enter the house.

...very _awkward_.

The bad news; Jeff, Shelly, and Keith are playing in the veto. The good news...

"Welcome! To big brother corn hole!" Jordan announces, super enthusiastic about this game now since she practically plays it all the time.

She reads over the rules, and announces Lawon is to go first.

I would skip to the end results, but this is where things start getting interesting, so I'll explain the rules in my own words before I go into Lawon's first throw.

There's a big spinning wheel, and there's a shed further behind with a hole. If you throw you bean bag at the shed (which you should... if you wanna win) and get it in the hole, you get zero points! If not, gravity will make it slide down to the spinning wheel, which will then land on any number between one and twelve. Whoever gets the most points in the round is eliminated.

Here's the interesting part... once eliminated, you will reach into the number bucket you're assigned and get a prize! But, like, if you lose early, you're not gonna end up with a good prize. Cause once someone wins a prize, they can trade it for any prize previously won. Basically, whoever wins first has their pick of any prize!

So Lawon starts his turn, and stupidly enough it goes over the edge! That's an automatic thirteen. ...so far so good!

Shelly shoots hers now, and lands on the roof. It slides down to a four, which is pretty good, but bad for me.

Jeff shots a nine, and Rachel hits a ten. Both are safe for this round.

Then it's my turn, and mine nearly goes over the back! It stopped between the back edge and the hole though, and wouldn't slide in. I'll accept it though, since landing on the board is still one point.

Last but not least, Dani. Unless she completely missed, Lawon was already gone.

"CORN HOLLLLLE!" Jordan shouts when Dani strikes a perfect shot.

I'm really; REALLY happy she's so good at this game.

"Lawon, you have lost this round. Please except your prize."

He opens barrel six, and reveals the golden power of veto.

"Congratulations Lawon, you have won, the golden power of veto!" Jordan reads off the card labeled 'PoV'. "This can be used to remove one of the current nominations, made by, the Head of Household."

I was personally hoping it would be a diamond power of veto. I wish the writer would bring that back... that was a good twist.

Next round; Shelly goes first and makes a corn hole. Jordan shouts corn hole, then Jeff steps up.

Rachel's depending on either her or Jeff to win this, so you can tell she gets a little tense when he shoots a high number.

"Jeff, you have scored a ten, and currently have the most points." Jordan announces. "Rachel, you are up next. You have to score a nine or lower to move on to the next round."

Despite her nerves, she throws lower then Jeff. 5.

Me next...

What happened? Stage fright? I'm very good at this game, but for whatever reason...

"Ohh! Melanie! You have scored a thirteen this round. Unless Daniele misses this shot, you will be eliminated from this round."

Daniele Donato... is much smarter than you might think.

I was thinking, as was everyone else; 'right, Dani missing a shot? Then the moon crashes into earth and we all live.

But the rules state if two player tie, both remain in the round. Dani was the only one yet to shoot, and could have easily thrown another corn-hole. Instead...

"Ohh! Daniele, you have scored a thirteen in this round. But since Melanie also scored a thirteen, you will both remain in this round.

After that the robot big brother guys gave us a new order to stand in. They said to rotate like that every round... THEY could see what Dani had just pulled, as did me and Kalia. The others were clueless, like 'what the fuck? Dani missed?'. She made the loss look so natural too. Hit the back edge that mine did last time, except this time instead of sticking, the bag rolled off the edge. This way, I can take myself off the veto, and Dani won't have to 'intentionally' backdoor Brendon.

Respect, respect.

Rachel finally struck out that turn, and Dani threw another corn hole. Jordan said corn hole again, and Rachel reviled her prize.

"Slop pass." Jordan reads. "This can be used any week the holder wants, and can be traded to any other player at any time during the game."

It's like the diamond power of slop pass!

I had to go first this time, and shot a three. Dani, not wanting to take her chances, shot another corn hole.

You know the drill... Jordan shouts corn hole, Jeff hits a one, and I pick a prize.

"Private getaway." Jordan reads. "Enjoy a private getaway with the houseguest of your choice to leave the big brother house for one day, on the fantastic beach of... how do you pronunciate this?"

Adorableness. I can lose, and her still her adorableness makes it all better!

"Balboa beach! Where you can enjoy horseback riding, open surf, and exotic food-and-wine tasting."

...what the hell am I gonna do with this? I can't drink, I don't know how to surf! And who would I bring with me? I can't choose between Cassi and Porsche! I'm sure it will no doubt get taken from me, so I'll hold on to it before I end up with some even worse punishment.

Rachel is knocked off next round, and trades me for friggin have-not card! I mean seriously... Dani's going to WIN this and you take a stupid vacation card instead of the PoV?

I see her point though. Dani will take the power of veto either way, so why not walk away with a day off with her 'man' before being separated from him?

It's down to Jeff and Dani. Both score a corn hole the first time around. The second time...

"Jeff, you have scored a one this round." Jordan says. "Dani, you need a corn hole to win this round."

I tense up. Dani's life is in my hands... but not to doubt her corn-hole abilities.

...focus. Take the target in sight. Hand-eye coordination, pull back, release, follow through, and...

"CORN HOLE!" Jordan shouts for the last time, with a little less enthusiasm.

Jeff opened his slot to find...

"Congratulations Jeff, you have won solitary confinement."

It means you sit in the have-not room for a day strait, with nothing but slop.

"Would you like to trade your solitary confinement with one of the already selected prizes?"

He looks at Rachel, but thinks of the consequences of such thoughts. He then looks at Shelly. "I guess I'll have the 'diamond power of slop pass'." He decides.

Hehe! He used my word! I wonder if it'll be used again when someone wants to trade or use it?

Dani opens the number one barrel and hands Jordan the card.

"Humilitard." Jordan reads. "Congr-"

Save it. I know where this is going. Adam's gonna have to put on some gross unitard, and leave it on for a week strait, and we're gonna have to LOOK at it! Eeeeew!

She trades Adam the PoV for the Humilitard, and we exit the backyard.

So shit. I'm on slop! But I guess it could be worse... I should've traded for the 'diamond power of slop pass'. At least that way I'd only have slop for one day in solitary confinement, AND I'd get to say 'diamond power of slop'! ...aw it's getting boring now...

At the veto meeting, Dani goes through her spiel and takes me off the block. I was a little scared she wouldn't, but I knew I wasn't her target this week. Key word; THIS week. Brendon goes on the block, and her reasoning is something about too strong of an alliance. This meeting is adjourned, blah blah blah, and it's back to hating each other.

Everyone says they want to vote out Rachel, but it is her alliance that controls the votes, and Brendon insist that they all vote him out. Jordan Jeff Shelly Adam Lawon Keith, all voting out Brendon. Kalia voting out Rachel. There's no way we can get Rachel out anyway, so why not vote with the house? I'm sure Kalia will too. Not that it'll make Rachel feel any better.

As for now...

Here's how things ended for the competition prizes;

Dani; PoV

Jeff; Slop pass

Rachel; Vacation

Melanie; slop

Shelly; Solitary confinement

Adam; Humilitard

...It was hideous. The Humilitard. Uhg! I'm not going into detail. It was green, it was pink. That's the only hints you're getting!

By unanimous vote, Brendon is evicted. Time for yet another head of household! It's pretty much routine at this point... try to lose, unless Kalia looks like she's gonna win. Hopefully Jeff or Jordan take this one, cause there's no telling what the floaters might do.


	4. Pandora's Box

Ch 4; Pandora's Box

Four floaters, three Vets, three team Mel, and Two team Dani. I like it!

This was a puzzle competition this time. Untangle the bomb wires to the bomb so you can defuse it. The theme was apocalyptic... cool

So here's a rundown of what Julie read. We have to follow our cord to the end of the bomb, and untangle it so that you can put the end in the top slot without crossing over someone else's wire. One wire for every house guest, and the first inch was a different color. After that they were all dark blue, and long, and a disaster.

Shelly and Adam didn't even try. Jordan and Porsche were just too confused. Daniele and Kalia started out great, but it was obvious when the pressure became too much for them. Cassi, Lawon, and Keith were okay, but trailing compared to us. It's dejavu from week one all over again, when I see Jeff and I are in the lead with the most cord free.

This time, I really will let him win it!

So everything's good! Jeff is HoH, Daniele is no doubt going up, and my alliance is safe! Sweet! This was going to be ANOTHER easy week!

...yeah, if only.

After Kaila and Dani were nominated, the robot voice called Jeff up to the HoH room. What's all this about?

"Maybe it's a twist!" Lawon excites as we gather in the kitchen.

That's Lawon for ya though!

"Dude, you think everything's a twist!" I grin.

"Actually Mel, I think he's right." Cassi contradicts. "Did everyone else forget about Pandora's box?"

Oh, that's right!

Nods of agreement and mystique linger thought the room.

Ten minutes later, Jeff comes back downstairs with an envelope.

"What happened?" Lawon asks before he's even down the steps yet.

We were all curious.

He doesn't respond, just opens the envelope and starts reading.

"Houseguests, I have chosen to open Pandora's Box..."

"Called it!" Lawon says proudly.

"Big brother will unleash 'three terrors' on us thought the week, which could come at any moment, and will happen without warning."

My guess? ZZZZZZZING!

"...wow..." Jeff says to himself, out of context. He sets the note down.

"So wait... what happened?" Porsche repeats, and we were all just as curious.

"Dude- I have, NO CLUE." He says, starting to freak out. "I went up there, and they just trapped me in!" He explains. "I thought you guys were getting some sort of money rain or something!"

"No, we've just been waiting here." Adam answers.

"...man. This sucks."

This is very suspicious... Jeff opened Pandora's Box and only bad things happen? Even though in the myth, Pandora's Box is completely different in every way, Big Brother's idea is that you are tricked into thinking it's something good, and are rewarded before pushing it too far and being punished. We all get punished, even Jeff, but it's obvious he's somehow benefited from this.

We're all gonna be mad at him, either way. He is the cause of these 'terrors' being unleashed.

"Guyyyyyyys!" Shelly calls from the living room. 

I was in the animal room with Cassi and Jordan at the time, just chatting about normal, not game stuff.

We all run in there when we here Shelly's voice.

"Shelly you okay?" Jordan asks with concern.

Then we notice the TV screen.

There was a big gold question mark, just, ON the TV screen.

We fine everyone and take them to the living room, and sit down and wait. The voice told us we all needed to gather there via intercom...

From the diary room there's a knock, and we look at each other before Jeff stands and opens the door.

"Eval Dick has RE-entered the building!" The frightening monster announces as he steps through the door.

Jeff and the Vets look happy, but the rest not so much. Especially Dani...

She was actually becoming very involved in the house activities. She was spending less time sleeping and instead playing corn hole and playing improv games and just talking! His return to the house is worse for her then it is for me...

I DID evict him, after all... There's no doubt he'll come after me.

As all this was running through my mind, I missed the part where he said he wasn't staying for more than five minutes. ...oops!

"Well, okay. As you know, Jeff has opened Pandora's Box, and, I am here."

Riiiight?

"But this isn't the punishment." He continues.

I lean in and whisper to Cassi "It's not...?"

She glares at me, and then returns focus to the speaker.

"The 'three terrors' I'm to unleash upon you are the real punishment."

"Ohhh!" Was the response of most, along with groans and stress levels rising.

From there the teleprompter turned off, and he pulls an empty sack from the hall of the diary room, the door to which was still propped open by his foot.

"So! Since you all evicted me, I get to, uh, 'deliver'" Eval begins, using air-quotes. "All your little terrors!"

There wasn't anything we could do about it, but Dick had locked himself inside the storage room and we waited and listened.

When he came out, it looked like a mess! I think the producers came in and made it look all nasty though, cause Dick didn't have onion dip or guacamole on his hands, which made the hand-prints on the wall- well... he didn't do it. He just walked in there, gave the empty sack to a producer or set-design guy, took a sack from him which was CLEARLY not full of food, and came back out.

We were so bummed... all our food is gone!

"But do not fear, for I have left an endless supply of big brother slop for you all to enjoy. Compliments of Eval Dick." He takes a bow, seeming very pleased with himself.

With that, he leaves us. Surely we'll be seeing more of him.

"It's obvious how they'd tricked Jeff into opening the box." Porsche concocts.

"Why should I care!" I freak. "He's here! He'll be back! He's gonna kill me in my sleep- Ahhhg!"

"Mel! Get a hold of yourself girl!" Cassi laughs like this problem isn't serious at all. "What were you saying Porsche?"

"Oh! Just that I'm sure Jeff opened an envelope saying that if he opened the door, Dick would return to the house." She explains.

"...so?" Cassi sates, still not following.

"So if Jeff read that, he may have thought Dick was coming back to stay and play the game again."

"Ohhh..." I pick up. "That makes sense!"

"Anyway, I'm just brainstorming. I'm not saying Jeff DIDN'T gain anything from it." Porsche adds.

There's silence for a moment, as we all think about what to talk about.

I speak. "So, what do you think some of the other punishments will be?"

"Dunno." Cassi sighs. "We'll have to wait and see.

We patiently wait for the veto ceremony to start.

First trivia then puzzle... and now we're playing a hide and seek game! I notice a lack of physical competition...

"It's time to pick players for the veto competition." Jeff announces, and goes through the whole spiel.

He pulled the first, and it was 'house guest choice.'

"Brendon." He called.

We didn't know what the competition WAS yet; otherwise I'm sure he would've picked me or Jordan.

...

...okay confession time. A lot of us play hide and seek. Don't judge! There's not much to do in this house, okay! Anyway, me and Jordan always think of the best hiding places.

The others ended up pulling Porsche and Keith. This should be interesting...

We step into the backyard, and... it just looks like our backyard.

More rules, but you guys can figure this out. We get a chip with a name on it, we go in one at a time, we hide it, we find it, end of discussion.

I was sitting outside the whole time, along with the others who weren't playing. They provided us with chips, which we all scarffed down bowl after bowl! It was the only thing that wasn't slop that we'd be able to eat for a while, after all.

Keith comes out with Dani's chip, and she is eliminated from the search.

No one really seemed happy though. I thought they'd be psyched! She's going home, finally! ...right?

Jeff returned then with Keith's chip, and Lawon looks relieved. I really wish I knew what's going on with those snakes... but its better I let things run their course and stay out of the line of fire.

Finally it's down to just Kalia and Porsche. Who knew Porsche was good at this game?

They exit the house at the same time, and Kalia holds up Porsche's chip. It's game over, and Kalia is awarded the PoV. Obviously, she'll use it to save herself, someone will be put up as a pawn, and Dani will finally be evicted from this house. Piece of cake!

Turns out only me and Cassi think this.

After the veto, our alliance hid out in the have-not room. Porsche gives us new information that brings clarity to, well, a lot of things.

"Kalia says she and Dani aren't the targets." She explains, and we look at her with disbelief.

"What?" I say, eyes wide.

"The Vets don't think her and Kalia are a threat anymore. Apparently there's something big going on with Keith, and he and Lawon are making deals left and right!" She begins. "Kalia said he and came in and made a deal with them and Dominic, and later she found out he was really on a team with Lawon, who was ALSO making deals with the Vets."

"Oh my god!" We flip.

"So did you tell her that he and Lawon came to us?" I ask in concern.

"No." Was her response.

Good girl, Porsche.

"But I think we should."

"No, no, Porsche. Why?" Cassi whines.

"Because! It proves that we were victims of their attacks too." She reasons. "Dani agreed to go on the block this week, to throw Lawon and Keith off. They still think they're good with everyone!"

So?

"If Dani and Kalia start working with the Vets, then who's the next eligible targets?"

Oh... "Us." I wince.

"Mel, I think you and Cassi need to go talk to Jeff and Jordan about this." Porsche suggests. "I'd come too, but I don't want things to become too overwhelming."

After some discussion, I find myself knocking on the dungeon doors. Jeff had already opened, probably seeing me come up from the telescreen.

"What's up Mel?" Jordan greets.

"Hi." I smile. "Um, I wanted to talk about nominations..."

"We're not gonna put you up hun." Jordan says right off the bat, thinking I was concerned.

"Thank you! Um, actually I wanted to get something strait..."

Jeff signals toward the couch, and I take a seat on the other side from Jordan.

"Okay, so during the Veto, Porsche told me she let Kalia win, because she wasn't really your target?"

They look slightly concerned.

"Who all did Porsche tell?" Jeff finally asks.

"Oh just me! And Cassi." I reply. "We haven't told anyone else." I assure them.

I wait for a response.

"Mel, there's been some sneaky rats, running around the house..." He starts. "And right now they're more concerning to us then Daniele."

"I get that." I inform. "Porsche also told us that Kalia said Lawon and Keith had been making deals...?" I say, waiting for them to confirm this.

"Well, yeah!" Jordan says. "They were playing all sides of the house and it's getting to that level where it's just, I don't know, dangerous."

"That's what I wanted to know!" I reply. "Because they came to me and tried to make a deal too!"

This caught their interest. Jeff sits upright. "What?"

"When I won HoH..." I begin. "Lawon came up to the dungeon and offered an alliance of me, him, Cassi, Porsche, and Keith."

Technically, I'm telling the truth! I'm just leaving out the part that everyone else was up there with us, or ever knew about it.

"So what you tell him?" Jordan asks, which was what's coming next.

"Well I told him I'd think about it." I lie. "I knew, you know, since I was Head of Household, people would offer me deals and stuff, and there was no way for me to know if he was sincere."

"...that shouldn't happen so early in the game." Jeff informs me, talking like I should have known better. "I wish you would have told us sooner."

You know now, at least.

"So what do you need me to do?" I ask, waiting for their instruction.

"Just, vote Keith out this week, get Porsche and Cassi to do so too, and... you know, we're going after Lawon after that." Jeff replies.

"So try not to get in a fight with Dani." Jordan adds, and Jeff nods.

Dani and I may have minor disagreements every now and then. You know, small fights over who cheated in monopoly or one of us isn't following the rules in an improv game. We avoid being involved in the same activity most the time now though.

"Got it." I nod. "So should I win HoH next week, put up Lawon and someone?"

"We'll cross that bridge if and when the time comes." Jeff states, and then I leave.

Kalia takes herself off the block, Jeff calls out Keith and Lawon for playing all sides of the house, and Keith goes up. This meeting is adjourned!

We only have two days before eviction, and we haven't received our last punishment yet! I was told the second one was some loud notices thought the night. Dick came in with a radio and blasted the music, flicked all the lights, and yelled everything he was instructed to say. ...I slept through it! Oh well, my loss.

So when's the third punishment gonna arrive? We were waiting in the living room to find out now...

This time, instead of coming through the diary room door, the main doorbell rings. Jeff gets up first and opens it, and we all trail behind. Big surprise! It's Dick! I neeeever would have guessed.

"Hello again, houseguests. I have returned for your third and final punishment."

He holds up handcuffs. ...what?

"As the final punishment, I get to personally choose two houseguests to get hand-cuffed together."

SHIT!

He looks at me with that evil grin, and I freeze in my spot.

"So, who does Melanie hate?" He taunts viciously, stepping closer in the house.

Why? Why would they ALL look at Daniele? Why couldn't someone just say I can't stand Cassi or Jordan or Porsche? ...common guys.

The idea of making me and Dani miserable was just too irresistible. He signals his daughter over with his finger and latches the first cuff to her.

Maybe he won't cuff me! I mean, he wants to help his daughter's game, right? Not make it worse! Maybe he'll stick her with, like, someone she can get along with and build to her alliance. Pick Shelly... pick Adam! ...no, no. He wouldn't chain his daughter to Adam. But still! Pick Shelly!

All hope is lost when I hear the cuffs click around my wrists.

"Heh!' He mocks. "Good luck to all of you for the next seven days!"

"Seven days?" Dani cries in despair.

"Try not to sound too excited..." I sigh.

...fuck. Are we sure we can't still evict her? ...please?

After five minutes Dani and I were called into the diary room. We were given a key, which is only to be used when instructed, or like, in case of some emergency. Or if we have to vote, or Dani's evicted, or if we have a competition, or Dani's evicted,

Or Dani's evicted...

And she couldn't stand me all the same. I thought Dick was trying to help her daughter! Why this?

"How am I supposed to change?" I question.

I'd been pointing out all the negatives of this for the past five minutes while she was eating, and clearly it was getting on her nerves.

"How am I supposed to shower? Like, I guess if you put your hand over the thing, but I can't get my shirt off anyway. I wonder how we'll play cards without like, being able to see each-other's hand? Do I just hold the cards with my toes? Oh, but how will I balance? How-"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" She answers furiously. "Shut the fuck up!"

Feisty.

"Common Dani, she's just trying to have a conversation." Shelly sympathizes.

"Yeah, with herself." Dani grunts.

...bitch.

Shelly sighs and walks away.

It was very difficult to talk game with anyone with Dani here all the time. I got the chance to tell Cassi and Porsche about my conversation with Jeff and Jordan in the dungeon, and how Lawon was the next target. But... what about next week? What if one of us wins? We know Lawon goes up, but who sits next to him?

On the positive side, this is also preventing Dani of speaking to Kalia, and ultimately defeating Porsche's fear that she'll try to join up with the Vets. I guess that makes it okay.

...wait what? This is DEFINATLY not okay! I'm chained to Daniele Donato! What am I saying, it's okay? It's living hell!

We played cards with Rachel and Brendon until nightfall. I literally used my feet to keep me and Dani from seeing each other's cards, and no one really seemed surprised. I use my feet for a lot of things I should be using my hands for. It's just fun! We were playing spoons first, which didn't quite work because if Dani went to get a spoon and tried to be sneaky about it, like, my hand would go with hers and that's completely unfair. And if I put my foot up there to get one- ...that's not totally obvious at all!

So we switched games to 'go fish'. It worked out.

Finding out how we were gonna sleep was a story in itself! ...Not really. It's an expression. ...actually 'a whole nother story' is an expression, but it's one of my biggest pet-peeves when someone uses the expression 'whole nother'. I mean, really guys! Maybe I failed English in the ninth grade but I still know the word 'nother' doesn't exist! I'm getting pissed off even thinking about this, which doesn't help to the current situation at hand.

"I'm NOT sleeping on the floor." I protest when Dani says I can't share a bed with her.

"Okay, then push the beds together and sleep on that one." She suggests.

"Oh, you mean the one Lawon's sleeping in?" I point out. "Just come sleep in the tiger room!" I pitch for the twentieth time. "No one else sleeps in there. Dominic was evicted, Jeff and Jordan sleep in the dungeon, and Keith has to sleep in the have-not room.

"Well why didn't you tell me that the first time!" She accuses.

"Cause it's so obvious!" I argue back. "I thought you were aware of this!"

"I'm not the one who sleeps there every night." She glares back

I tense my fists.

"No, cause you decided to sleep out in the fucking yard for the first week of the game."

"Excuse me?" She snaps. "I slept out there by choice!"

"GIRLS!" Lawon interrupts. "There are people in here who are trying to sleep!"

Eventually she agrees to sleep in the tiger room, but tells me there is no way she's sleeping in the same bed as me. We open the door.

"About that..."

This room was the only one that was still an absolute wreck from the hide and seek competition. There was stuff everywhere; on floors, on beds, on shelves that were pulled apart and all over the floor. My bed was cleared because I cleaned up all my stuff, and threw everyone else' on their beds.

"No." She replies.

Another hour of arguing and pulling, and finally she'd decided we shouldn't make poor Melanie sleep on the floor of the living room while she slept on the couch.

"DANIELE! You can't do that!" Porsche accuses.

Dani was curled up on the couch while I had to sleep on the floor underneath. My hand was raised onto the couch.

Kalia and Rachel were in the room too, but Rachel left soon after.

"I tried to sleep in the nomination chair, but my back doesn't really bend that way." I complain.

"Oh, sob sob." Dani says, rolling her eyes.

"I know you two didn't pick to be cuffed together, but you're gonna have to figure this out because it won't go away for another week."

And that was Kalia's hidden way of telling Dani she needs to put up with me and my needs. Such as sleeping.

Jordan had to come down at yell at her then. Dani was sick of it and didn't want to cause any more trouble, and in the end we both sleeping on my bed.

It's the day before nominations.

I wake up and hear Kalia's voice, then remember Dani's chained to me. It took me a moment to realize they were talking game, so I pretend to still be asleep, and listen in.

"What does he have to lose?" Kalia finishes.

"I don't know, I just don't trust him. I don't see any point in teaming up with him." Dani answers.

Trust who? The Vets? Maybe Porsche was right!

"All I'm saying is they've been completely exposed! Lawon has no one to go to, and all hope is lost." Kalia argues. "We need the votes, and if he ends up in a position of power-"

"Even if he does, he's not gonna put up one of us." Dani reasons. "Plus we don't need safety this week."

Kalia wants to recruit Lawon. Makes sense. You know, if you're completely crazy.

"No Lawon." Dani enforces. "And remember what I said about HoH."

"..." No response, and I hear the door close.

Dani lies back down in the bed, and rests for a little. I wonder what she'd said to Kalia about HoH. Maybe to throw it? That's what I told my crew too. No reason to take the blood off the Vet's hands; let them do all the dirty work while we sit back and wait in the shadows. Dani had the same idea, I assume.

The whole house, minus Keith and Lawon, was having a full-blown corn hole competition. We're so glad they decided to leave it here, even after the competition was over.

I won up to three rounds, until I was up against my chain-buddy.

We both threw three corn holes on our first three turns. Then Dani slipped up and it just missed the center.

"You messed up my shot." She growls, and I glare back.

I miss the shot completely that round, not wanting it to seem like I really did mess up her throw. I had nothing to do with it, but it might look like I did if I scored a corn hole that round.

Then it was Jordan vs. Rachel, and Rachel won. Now all that's left is Dani and Rachel for the championship.

"You better not mess me up..." Dani grunts.

"Why you gotta be so mean to her?" Shelly defends for the millionth time this week. "Just because you dad's a bully doesn't mean you have to be one too!"

I was sorta sick of it. I could fend for myself! Shelly was just making it worse.

Dani won. Thank goodness...

I'm so sick of her already! I feel like communication with my alliance has minimized. They only time I get to talk with Porsche or Cassi is when we're all sitting eating. There's no way to talk game with them anyway, unless one of them get the wits to come wake me up in the middle of the night while Dani's asleep, and hope we don't wake her.

We were all eating right now, by chance. Dani and I are very different, but some of our interests and other things I find are alike. Our eating habits are one example.

"You girls are so small!" Adam comments. "I get that you don't like slop, but you don't eat when you're not on slop anyway!"

"I eat!" I defend. Dani continued to play with her nails.

"Yeah, you eat an apple maybe once a week." Adam reiterates.

"You sure you're not gonna have anything Dani and Mel?" Jordan asks one last time. "I'm gonna put it back in the store room."

"I'm not hungry." Dani sighs in response.

"Of course not." Adam smites.

"No thanks Jordan." I smile, then return to my vicious staring contest with the couch.

"Alright, well I'll put it on the counter in there if either of you guys wants it."

"Thanks." I reply.

"_Thanks_." Dani mocks, trying to copy my voice tone and inflections.

Whatever Dani.

Later we went out to the pool. We couldn't really put on swim suits, but I climbed in anyway. Dani sat on the edge with her feet in the water.

Everyone out there was playing bang. I sat and watched, but there was really no way for me to go under without pulling Dani with me.

"BANG!" Rachel shouts, her gun pointed at Kalia.

Kalia shoots in both directions, but Adam forgets that I'm not playing and doesn't duck.

"Aw man! I didn't know!" He freaks. "It's too confusing with her there!"

"Maybe she should just get out then." Dani rudely suggests.

"Aw, Dani and Mel aren't getting along!" Rachel taunts.

Now that Brendon's gone, it's been up to JJ to keep her in line. Jeff gently slaps her arm, but Rachel ignores it.

"No! Are you kidding?" I start boldly. "We're best friends ever!"

No one really laughed. They typically don't when someone plays with fire. They did watch intently, however, to see how she'll react.

"No we're not." Dani huffs and rolls her eyes.

"Yes we are." I protest. "Gimmi a hug!"

Her eyes get wide, and she sorta backs up. "No! You're soaking wet!"

Then they started laughing when Dani's smiling too.

"Common best friend!" I tease, standing up.

"Ee!"

She tries to walk away, but I just pull my hand back and hug her from behind.

"EE! No! It's cold!"

Some of the houseguests, even Lawon, peek out from inside. They watched Dani squirm and fight me as I tighten my grip around her waist. She was pushing away, but laughing and giggling at the same time.

It was a shocker to even me.

As I ran back over to the pool, I dragged her along. The rest saw what I was gonna attempt and jumped out, but Dani was clueless. Before she knew it, I'd launched her in the pool.

"You little BITCH!" She shrikes.

I crack up, until with the yank of her arm, I'm pulled head-first underwater.

We both crawled out after that, and Porsche handed us towels.

"Of all the people...!" Dani dispute, but her nods and smile contradict her thought.


	5. Daniele's Dungeon

Ch 5; Daniele's Dungeon

I finally understand why he chained us together. I think Dick realizes how much of a competitor I am. I THINK he wanted Dani to trust me, and consider me an ally to her team. I think he wanted us to work together, but I know for a fact he wouldn't like us working so closely as we have.

After evictions and Keith was sent home, we expected a competition immediately. The black screen remained opened, however, and no work was being done to the backyard. We waited for two minutes until just going back to our business.

It's officially day four of being chained to Dani at exactly 12AM, but I still have to wait until the END of the seventh day to remove these chains...

It's not that bad though, since Dani and I are getting along more often. I learned a lot about her past, actually. Things I never would've known about her if it weren't for Dick forcing us to spend time together! Spending 96 hours strait with a person really changes your relationship with them.

Dani asks why Cassi keeps glaring at me, and at first I say I don't know. Then Dani starts saying that she may be mad at me because she thinks we're in an alliance now or something.

"No, no. It's- ...well, she thinks I'm gay."

Dani says that she's strait, and I say the same.

"...but, I mean... It's not like I -haven't- ever had... maybe... like, ...a tiny, tiny crush on a girl before." admit.

"I haven't. I don't understand- well..." she says softly.

I look at her curiously.

"I mean, there was once that I sorta, ...I don't know. Never mind."

"What?"

"It's nothing. Just... ...I used to have these... -thoughts- about, ...kissing. Some... Female. Before."

Complete dead silence.

"...well, I've read that it's actually a healthy part of life to be curious about same-sex relations." I say.

"And it's not like I'm gay!"

"Or bi!" I add.

"Or bi curious."

Again, silence. Subtle agreement, clouded with lingering doubt.

"So what was it like?" I start, afraid to ask but wanting to know more. "Kissing that... female."

"She never wanted to." Dani says, strain in her voice, like she didn't want to seem disappointed.

"...oh."

We lay for another few hours, trying to get some sleep. It was weighing heavily on my mind at this point though, and I wasn't going to get to sleep until I'd figured out what these thoughts buzzing around my head were.

"Dani?"

She turns her head.

"What?"

"Umm..." I start, my hands shaking. "Do you... ever, ...um..."

She was starting to look annoyed, so I just blurt it out.

"Do you ever still w-wonder what it be like t-to kiss a girl?"

Her expression totally changed. Her pupils got big and her face became flush instantly.

"...well..."

...w-well? I was expecting 'no'. I was expecting her to rip my head off for what I was suggesting! But to my dismay, she did nothing.

"Oh my god... You want to kiss me..." She breaths.

"I never-" I start in my defense, but Dani wraps her free arm around my waist.

"S-said... Th-that..."

I feel myself slowly gravitate towards her, and without thinking, lock my lips to her soft, wet complexion.

Our entire bodies tensed when our mouths touched, and my stimuli fires off like crazy. Before I knew what was going on Dani and I were kissing each other over and over; the motions were short and came one after another, until Dani put her hand on my cheek and guided my head down as she rest hers on the pillows, still kissing me every intimate second.

Now sliding her fingers to the back of my neck, I discover our actions slow and her movements become smooth and calm. I was lost in my own blissful world until I felt her sucking on my bottom lip, and my senses spike again. I knew if I didn't stop there, I'd end up doing something I'd regret.

I pull away, and we're both awkwardly tense. I tell her good night and she nods shakily before turning over and falling asleep.

I store at her for a moment, though. Wondering about it is one think, but to take the next step and go ahead and do it? It was more than that though. What I experienced wasn't a kiss... but absolute heaven. My emotions flared up like fireworks, and I had the urge to... to push my tongue in her mouth. Thinking about it is perfectly normal, but the feelings I experienced, the rush, the excitement, the passion...

I'd awoken somehow wrapped in her arms; she was still asleep though it could be our bodies reacting to the intimacy we'd experienced last night.

...or maybe Dani was cuddling after I fell asleep?

My better-judgment is drowned out over my hormones, and I push my mouth to hers for a brief moment.

I hear Dani gasp, and I pull away instantly.

"Sorry! Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I say.

She takes a couple deep breaths, then looks up and says "its fine, its fine. Don't, worry about it."

A reaction like this is hard to read the subtext. I couldn't tell if she meant it in a way like 'I don't mind' or 'don't let it happen again'.

"Oh shit..." she moans, and twists her head back.

"What?" I ask, and she points towards the patio.

Keith was starring directly at us, along with the rest of the breakfast club. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hung open.

"I'll go tell them what happened!" I reply immediately. "That I kissed you without your consent."

"Why?" Dani asks in a panic.

"Cause that's what happened and I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea!"

She was still panting from how I'd awoke her this morning.

"That, IS, what happened, right?" I ask her, now wondering myself.

"I... Don't... Know?"

Despite the mass confusion of what was going on, I still had to tell them something.

"Look, you stay here, and I'll-"

Just as I'm getting up, I feel the chains around our wrists pull.

"Oh god..." I moan. "This day just got longer."

"Where you girls think you're going?" Jeff asks when we try to enter the house.

He, Adam, and Jordan were on the patio. Me and Dani were trying to avoid them all together, but no such luck.

"Would either of you two like to explain what you were doing over there?" He asks coyly.

"..." We look at each other.

"Oh, you know..." I trail. "Just, sleeping."

Jordan gasps, which half sounded like a laugh. "You're such a liar! We all saw you kissing her!"

"Oh my god..." I sigh, dropping my head in my hands.

Dani's face turned red, but she tried to talk in a way like it's not a big deal. "So?"

"So! ..." Jordan starts, then her face puzzles. "Your girls!"

How innocent.

I'm sure this will spread through the house by... ten minutes? It's big brother; gossip tends to travel at a faster rate when you're trapped in a fixed area for a certain amount of time! Actually, ten minutes is plenty enough time for everyone to have heard! And since there's no point trying to stop it, we may as well set the record straight while we can, before people start thinking we're involved.

"Okay, I know it LOOKED like I..." How can I explain something when I can't confess to it myself? "Was... close, to Dani this morning..."

They looked amused with my denial.

"But it's only because... umm..." Because... oh yeah! "Because we just wanted to know what it was like! R-right..." I stutter. "And that's all there is too it."

I look to Dani in confirmation, and she nods.

"So what was it like?" Adam asks, laughing,

"What?" We both respond simultaneously.

"What was it like kissing Daniele?" Jeff clarifies.

For better or worse, Rachel walks out to the patio. It temporarily got me out of answering the question, at the price of the person with the loudest mouth possibly finding out what happened. Once Rachel hears word of two of her greatest rivals becoming this close, there's no limit to how far she can stretch the truth.

"Heeey!" She greets, then plops a seat on the other side of the couch.

"I gotta go... brush my teeth." Dani says irritated.

"And I-"

She was already pulling me along.

"Uh- have to- uh- follow, her. I guess!" I finish, already through the door.

Instead of grabbing her tooth brush, she sits down in the metal room for a little and goes through her things.

"..."

I kinda wanted to ask her what she was doing. She was just... picking things up and putting them back. Some held longer than others, while some went untouched.

I couldn't really talk to her though. If things weren't already awkward as they were, I went ahead and took that next step. I think she enjoyed kissing me last night... I really do! We've both experienced a lack of affection in this house, and by kissing her, and falling asleep by her side, and waking up in her arms... up to that point it's just a matter of curiosity, mixed with the amplified effects this house causes. When I kissed her after I woke up, however, this was completely different! Like when I felt the need to shove my tongue down her throat... except that time I was able to control myself. Being chained to her was seriously pushing my mental limits, and fucking up my psychiatric state of mind.

That's what I was feeling. Confused. I don't know what to make of any of this, nor what she's feeling.

Kalia walks in the room now, after a good nine minutes of sitting in here. Why nine? It no more than that, because apparently she hasn't heard the news yet.

"Well?" Kalia asks, but no one was asking her a question.

"Yes." Dani answers. "But I haven't talked to her about it."

"Do you want me to leave?" Kalia asks then. What's going on?

Dani nods "I do, as a matter of fact. I think, you should go sit outside with Jeff and Adam and that group for a little before we make any... final, decisions."

Kalia looks at me briefly, then back at Dani. Then leaves.

"What was that all about?" I glare.

"Okay Mel..." She yawns. "So the past couple days we've been chained together."

"No, I didn't notice!" I reply.

"Whatever." Dani rolls her eyes. "Anyway, Kalia and I have been talking while you're asleep, and we thought maybe we should team up together."

"Wait!" I object. "We as in, you me and Kalia?"

"And Porsche and Cassi." She corrects. "Kalia's already talked to both, and they said they're not agreeing to anything until talking to you."

She pauses on that, as if just realizing how it sounds out loud. "They're really loyal to you, you know."

I smile confidently.

"So Cassi and Porsche will be in here any second, and Kalia will be back, and hopefully they'll already- umm..." She suddenly gets quiet. "Heard, about our... encounters."

"Yes..." I awkwardly reply.

"So, let's face it. Kalia will do anything I say, and Cassi and Porsche will do anything you say... why not work on the same side, pick off the veterans, chop off the floaters, and make a deal to the final five?"

The offer was irresistible! And it made so much sense. My crew was already filled in on the situation, so I don't see any reason to refuse!

Except...

What if this is one of Dani's tricks? My team has been tricked more than once in this season, and Dani's been setting traps since day one! How can I know for sure she isn't just sucking us into another one of her schemes?

"Well I'll have to talk to the girls about this before making any... final, decisions." I answer.

She raises her eyebrow, but agrees to the delay anyway. We wait a little longer before Porsche walks in.

"Hey." I smile,

"Well, it's about time we've had a game talk." She smiles. "We're not used to not having one at least every five minutes!"

Dani smiles. I imagine she and Kalia talk about strategy often too.

Kalia and Cassi enter quickly after, to avoid anyone else seeing us.

"Melanie, you better start explaining a few things!"

Of all the people, Cassi be the one to make the biggest deal of all this I'm sure.

"We can talk about it later..." I blush. "So... To be completely clear, what's being offered here is a final-five deal?" I confirm. More for their sake then my own.

"That's what I heard." Porsche agrees.

"Yeah? I've heard quite a bit myself!" She glares at me.

"THIS IS NOT THE ISSUE!" I stress, and the group stares at me. "...um, Okay. Since there really not a way to talk with you guys privately, just... if you don't want to rush into deal right away we can put it off until after the cuffs are off."

"No." Dani protests.

We look at her.

"Just... look, if you don't trust me just say it to my face. We'll work something out." Dani explains. "I just... I need a commitment from you guys before the HoH. Power had a lot of influence on the house, and I need to know very shortly, while all sides of the house are nutural, weather we can do this or not."

"She's right... If one of us were to win HoH, there's no way we'd protect team Dani over then Vets. Same thing goes for them... we want to stay on the Vets good side as long as we can. By promising now, we're evening out the chances of power before it happens." I say, trying to set the example to my team that it's safe to speak their minds. "I'm in on this, as long as both of you are one-hundred percent confident."

They look at each other. I think maybe they think that I'm being manipulated... but that's one line they won't dare cross at this time, no matter how open we're being.

"I think it's worth a try." Porsche decides after extensive thinking.

"...Yeah, I guess." Cassi gives. "But at the end of the day I'm still watching my back before anyone else."

"Kalia...?" Dani questions.

"If they're on board, then yeah! Let's get this show on the road."

For now everyone disperse, besides the two who're chained together; trapped within ear-shot of the quietest secrets, trapped in the peripheral vision of every little movement... forced to be at each other's side, freedom taunting us by the key hanging off the string at my throat.

Mid-day, and finally the HoH competition is starting.

This one was based on speed and timing, with some logic.

I think this was a pretty good week to win it, actually. We all know who we want out, and none of us (except Lawon) are our targets... So maybe I'll go ahead and win this one! I didn't get the chance to tell my team- I mean...my final three team, but they may come to the same conclusion on their own.

For this competition, we have to run from our tree and pick up apples that were scattered around the yard. each apple had a number; one through ten grams, written on its 'leaf', which was actually just a green piece of plastic hanging off the top. You had to collect the apples and put them in the funneled bin at the base of the tree. From there, we use the pulley system to raise the basket, and the apples drop into the hole near the top of the tree. Whoever has the most apples, regardless of the number, on the leaf, wins the HoH.

"But be careful." Julie announces. "Because you can only place a total of ten 'grams' in the basket at one time."

Not really. Just for gaming purposes.

"On your mark..."

We all lean in, like professional track-stars do.

"Get set..."

Our tensions strained...

"...GO!"

The key to this competition was to grab as many of the little numbered apples as we could. Unfortunately, almost all the apples were nine and ten. There had to be at least three gazillion out here... yeah, if they ever ask how many total apples are in the yard, I'm gonna say 'three gazillion'. Like, in an estimating contest. ...why not?

Using the pulley took a lot of time. If you could go and find three apples that add up to ten, it would take less time than to just grab the first apple you see, throw it on, and start reeling it up. That basket/funnel thing moves about an inch for every two feet you pull!

That's why we all tried to find numbers like threes or fours, and stick at least two at a time.

My strategy? Whenever I found a ten, I threw it in someone else's pile. We all had a general area we searched, so when I found one I didn't like, I tossed it over to Adam or Jeff. Turns out a lot of people had that idea though, so the ten apples just kept getting mixed back in.

So I'd find a four, and go looking for anything six or smaller. THAT was my worst move. Everyone else saved up their smaller numbers at the side of their basket, until the accidentally came across a six or a five, or two threes. Putting two fours up was the same as putting a four and a six, except six was more easy to find! I could have done what some of the smart people were doing and just evened everything extra I had within the last minute of the game, but no. I didn't realize till later.

"House guests, it is time to count your apples." Julie says once the timer rings.

Lawon still had two going up, but couldn't make it in time before Julie yelled at him to stop.

They came down in segments. This design was really, really extravagant! There were little separators between every one or two, showing where each deposit starts and ends. How the hell would you program something like that?

Once a team came and made sure each segment was less than or equal to ten, they dropped the separators and all the apples lined up. Instead of counting each individual one, they measured by row.

Clearly me and Lawon had the lowest. So much for winning... From there all there is to worry about are Adam and Shelly, and the rest of us are all on the same page!

"Congratulations Daniele, you are the new head of household!"

No way!

"Dani what were you thinking?" I accuse once we're safely inside the metal room. Only Kalia was with us.

"Are you kidding? I wasn't trying to win; I was just trying to beat Lawon!" She sasses back.

"Uh, Lawon came in last place." Kalia points out. "Everyone beat him."

"I know that!" She glares back.

"What's going on now?" Porsche asks, entering the room.

"...look, we'll talk about this later." Dani instructs. "After everyone else comes to talk to me about nominations."

With that, Kalia and Porsche leave.

I try to leave too, but me and Dani are called into the diary room. Time for the cuffs to go back on! Oh, joy...

They also handed her the HoH key after chaining us up.

"WHO WANTS TO SEE MY HOH ROOOM!" She calls cutely.

"Do I have a choice?"

She glares at me, but smiles anyway.

Once up, we looked at all the pictures (She turned over the ones with her father in them), went through her snacks, and she read the letter from her family.

Of course, it was from her father.

"Okay... he says... To my lovely daughter Daniele." She begins.

Everyone 'awwwww!'s.

"For starters I want to apologize for chaining you to Melanie. But I think this will help further your game in the future."

Called it.

"I have sent the food you've been requesting, except for the candy because it's not good for your teeth!"

Oh, dads!

"I miss you very much, and hope to see you after you win big brother." She finishes, and sets the letter down.

"Aww!" Jordan smiles, starting to cry a little.

Dani could care less though. She may even be a little pissed off with him for not sending any candy. ...damn I really want some candy right now! I can't though cause I'm still on slop. And there's no candy. Fuck.

Eventually everyone clears out, except Lawon. THIS is gonna be a fun conversation!

"Yo Shelly, you mind if I talk to Dani here for a minute?"

Shelly leaves, and here we are!

"...so, I'm just gonna ask, are you two on the same team now, or... what's going on here? Cause I can help you out."

We look at each other.

"Well, I mean, we're chained to each other, but regarding game nothing's really happened up until this point." Dani answers. Smart move, smart move.

"So this is like, the first time you two have talked about something regarding the game?" He re-states.

"Uh, yeah? That's what she just said." I snap.

"...I can help you both." He starts, ignoring my previous comment. "I can be on your side; we can get rid of these Vets right now before they drive us all out!"

He was really, REALLY trying here. He was worked up, he was into it, he was energetic...

"...well I'll think about it." Dani shrugs.

"Look, I'm serious. I'm not playin! Keith is gone, and I'mma be honest with you, he was the one who orchestrated all this shit. Like- I swear, I had nothing to do with it, I just thought we were playin the game, I didn't know he was gonna be serious, you know." Lawon continues.

Dani's just sitting, nodding her head, waiting for him to go away, and the next person come up.

"Well okay, I'll definitely think about it." She says, a little more irritated.

Lawon gets the hint.

"Alright now."

Then leaves.

We had maybe five minutes before someone else cycled their way up. We figured it would be Jeff, but it turns out Shelly came up.

"Knock knock." She announces.

I get up and open the door, which actually wasn't much help cause Dani had to get up too in order for me to reach.

"Hey, mind if I talk to you two for a sec?"

"Come on in." Dani says flatly.

Shelly takes a seat.

"So, I was just thinking of nominating Lawon, and maybe like, Jordan or someone as a pawn." Dani starts explaining right off the back.

"..." Shelly doesn't respond.

"...so, like, don't worry, I'm not gonna put you up or anything."

Shelly just sorta sat there; looking at the floor, her chin resting in her palm... ...what the fuck is she doing?

"...is there, someone else you think needs to go up?" Dani asks, trying to get a response. "I mean, tell me what you're thinking, otherwise..." her voice trails.

"You know who I think needs to go up? I think you need to put Melanie on the block."

Uh, WHAT?

"You do know that I'm right here?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

"And I have nothing against you! You're a great player, a strong competitor, a good person... but I'm not HoH. I'm not the one who makes these decisions!" Shelly explains.

"Okay well if you think she's such a good person, why are you coming up here and telling me she needs to go on the block? Like, what's your logic in telling me this?" Dani defends.

"BECAUSE YOU TWO HATE EACH OTHER!" She freaks. "Dani, common! What the hell is going on? It's your logic I don't understand! You two can't stand each other, you yell at her and bicker all the time, and you've told me she's more annoying than Rachel!"

...

"And you!" She looks at me. "Daniele has done nothing but lie and deceive you from day one. She's called you stupid to your face, and I've seen you cry because of how she's treated you. And I just want to know if it's all just an act, or if you've lost your minds, or what the hell is going on cause I have heard so many different things from so many people and I can't believe any of it is true." She finishes her fit.

I look to Dani, who now had tears in her eyes.

"Melanie... I've made you cry...?"

Back a few weeks ago, with the whole thing where she thought I lied about the cards... I forgot about that though until Shelly mentioned it.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry!"

She wrapped her arms around me as best she could with the chain. Shelly was right... Mine and Dani's relationship has dramatically changed since we've been cuffed together.

"Unbelievable." Shelly sighs, and then stands up.

"Wait!" Dani calls, releasing me form her grip. "Shelly, um... I don't know exactly know myself what's going on yet. But I do know that for the past four days, I've learned so much about Melanie and she's the complete opposite of what I thought she was. ...look, I don't know what, rumors are going around the house, but I promise you there's really, really nothing going on between me and Mel besides a little experimenting. It's nothing that effects my game, it's nothing that's gonna change hers. Alright?"

Shelly takes a deep breath, and then nods on the exhale. "I trust you guys. But that doesn't mean I approve of what's going on, weather your 'just experimenting or not...'

Oh...

"...I understand." Dani swallows, and Shelly leaves.

"Wow..." I comment when she's already halfway down the steps.

"You have to expect people aren't gonna like this... whatever this is that's going on between us." Dani admits.

"I know, but..." I pause.

She looks at me intently.

"...never mind."

"What? What is it?" She asks, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"This! This, care and concern! I don't mean to freak out like Shelly was, but she has a point!" I whine. "You've never acted like this before, ever."

"...I care about you Mel." She says, the tears once again welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry... I feel so bad for the way I treated you, I guess... I just didn't know you then and I thought I did, and I treated you like a jerk when you were nothing like I thought, and-"

"And what DID you think?" I say, considering the fact that she kept bringing it up.

"I thought you were like everybody else." She admits. "But you're not..."

She looks away, and tries to gather her thoughts.

"Mel, you're so, so different than anyone I've ever met. You mean something to me..."

...oh my god how sweet.

"...and, it's been a while since anyone's actually cared about me like this, and I didn't think anyone would even try, so I thought if I acted like a jerk, than no one else would get the chance to treat me bad first and..."

"Dani! Dani Dani Dani... chill out!" I assert.

She had tears streaming down her cheeks now. It was apparent she regret the way she's treated me.

"...it's okay. I forgive you, really! You don't gotta cry..."

She smiles. "I'm not... crying..." and tries to laugh it off.

I wanted to get closer to her, but I was afraid to. I don't know where are relationship stands, but until Jeff come to talk to us about nominations, until Porsche and Cassi and Kalia come talk to us about this alliance, and until everyone else is done talking about this game for the day, we can't really talk about this openly and honestly.

"...I think we have company. Should I tell them to wait a minute?" I ask. "It's Jeff, Jordan, and Rachel."

"No, no... I'm alright."

The doorbell rings.

"Tell them to come in; I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea..." She command.

"It's unlocked!" I yell, and the three enter.

Jeff and Jordan sit against each other on the couch, while Rachel plops herself on the chair next to it.

"We're not interrupting your alone time, right?" Rachel asks, smiling devilishly.

"RACHEL!" Jordan warns, glaring at her.

"What? What am I doing wrong? I just wanted to know if-"

"Who are you putting up?" Jeff interrupts, getting strait to the point.

"Well, obviously Lawon's going up." She states.

"We were thinking maybe it's better if we backdoored him." Jordan adds.

That's a little risky.

"...okay, but I'd need two pawns then, and I don't really want that responsibility." She reasons.

"You won't have to. Put up me and Melanie..." He starts.

I don't like where this is going.

"Not that I'm just volunteering you, but we're the strongest competitors in this house." He explains. "Plus this way there's a chance that he won't play in the veto, and if anyone wins we're all gonna use it no matter what..."

"Cause like..." Rachel interrupts. "The Vets want him out, and I know you two want him out, and Kalia and Cassi will listen to, well, pretty much anything you say. And Shelly Adam and Porsche just follow whoever's in power, so no matter what, like, unless Lawon plays in it, someone's gonna use the veto."

They haven't even gotten that Porsche and I are on a team. They're nowhere near learning our secret alliance!

"Okay... so, what your saying is, we're gonna try and not let Lawon have the chance to defend himself." Dani asks.

"Yes." Jeff confirms. "And like I said, I'll go up, no problem. If Mel doesn't feel safe going up..."

"I'm fine with it." I say to everyone's shock.

"...you have nothing to lose by taking this opportunity. It's like you said, it's just a matter of trying to get him not to play in the veto." Jeff reiterates.

"I mean, I'll have to think about it. I'll let you guys know like, the second I make up my mind though! I'm not gonna just surprise you at nominations or anything." She explains.

"Sounds good." Jeff states, then hops up.

Rachel leaves out the door, chiming "Bye bye love birds!"

She tries. She tries.

After they're gone, Dani and I start talking about this offer.

"...Mel are you really sure you want to volunteer yourself like this?"

"Well... yeah!" I respond. "I know when it comes to math I'm not exactly the BEST person to pick, but he has a point! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty agile, I have incredible balance, I know this game inside and out, and puzzle or jigsaw-"

"It's not your skills that I doubt!" She blurts. "It's where your putting your trust that I'm concerned with."

"...they want Lawon out too though." I reason.

"Why? Because he's a liar and a cheater and no good to anyone anyways? What's the purpose of getting him out if he can't do anything?" She argues.

...

"All I'm saying is what if this is a trap? It's likely the Vets want to get rid of someone in power, and they've already proved they view you as a strong competitor. And what happens if Jeff or the Vets win? What if they leave nominations the same? Do you think we have the numbers to keep you safe? Adam and Shelly are one hundred percent loyal to the Vets, you know. And if you doubt that how about we take a look back at how Shelly reacted to these little rumors?"

...

"You don't realize how much of a risk you're taking, offering to go on the block!" She finishes.

"Dani, ...maybe I can't fully trust the Vets, but I trust YOU." I start. "...you threw that bean bag off on purpose."

At first she's puzzled, but then she remembers the corn hole competition. She threw off and we tied scores.

"I just figured if you won it, it would seem like backdooring Brendon would seem more like a forced decision." She objects.

She wouldn't look at me in the eyes though.

I smile. "You did not! You KNEW you were going to win! Everyone knew! What they didn't know was you were trying to win it for me."

She blushes now, and still won't look at me.

"I was trying to backdoor someone!"

"Then why didn't you use it on Rachel?"

She was stuck. "Well- ...cause she got Dominic evicted!"

I laugh. "You didn't even remember, see!"

"Mel! What's your point?"

"I'm just saying, if I go up then I know you'll look out for me. I know I can trust that we won't just... let Jeff win. We do have numbers... Some of those numbers may be blurred to everyone else, but... this is no different than two weeks ago when I went up." I explain. "Just, trust me, I know the risks. I know if Brendon wins the veto, we can convince him to use it. I know if he doesn't, that you're not just gonna give up on me. I could have everyone else in the house against me, but as long as I have you on my side, ...not to sound cliché but there's nothing we can't do."

"..." Finally, she looks at me. "I appreciate you doing this for me."

"Yeah."

Things are just going so, so well for us. And it's just so, so so so incredible that the two of us could be working together like this. I... I don't want these handcuffs to come off. Then we have to pretend like there's nothing going on, and we won't have that excuse that we have to be together every second of every day.

A curse? This is more like a blessing.

"DING!"

The doorbell rings, and it's Kalia this time. I guess it's time for us to start filing in and talking about this new alliance thing.

"And now I can't protect myself next week, which is so stupid cause there's really no reason for me to win this week really other then the fact that I might go up as a pawn?" Dani explains, finally getting to answer Porsche's question of why she didn't want to win HoH.

"It's not like we don't have your back." Cassi explains.

"Yeah, and like you said earlier, the Vets are pretty sneaky. Lawon might not be their target." I add.

"Hm?" Kalia questions.

"...okay well, Jeff came up to talk earlier as you know." I state.

"And he basically said we should back door Lawon and volunteered himself and Mel to go up." Dani finishes.

"Wait, what?" Cassi says. "Mel, you said you wouldn't, right?"

I explain to her my logic, that I trust everyone enough that they'll take me or Jeff off the block.

"If there's no changing you mind..." She sighs, and looks off in another direction.

"Anyway, that's what's up with the nominations. So if we're all clear about the veto, then, I guess there's nothing further to discus!" Dani concludes.

"Oh, that's what you think." Kalia comments. "Can you excuse us for a minute girl?" She asks, referring to Porsche and Cassi. "I need to talk to these two about something for a minute."

Oh shit.

"Sure. I'll have to have a talk with them too, just not right now." Cassi adds.

"Common..." Porsche sighs, and practically drags Cassi out the door; Cassi glaring at me the entire time.

"...sooo..." She starts awkwardly.

"Kalia..." Dani moans. "Don't do this!"

"How can I not feel at least a little offended here?" She says right off the bat. "I mean common! All I hear from everyone is that you two are messing around, kissing each other, _just_ because you wanna know what it's like."

"Well-"

"Well you couldn't come to me? You both know I'm a lesbian, and not once have either of you mentioned a curiosity about this before..." She argues.

That's right. Kalia's a lesbian... I almost forgot about that.

"Kalia, it was more like an instant thing. We didn't plan it or anything, it just... it came up in conversation, and, it just sorta happened! And we didn't mean for anyone else to see it, otherwise I would have come to you before all these rumors started flying around... trust me! There wasn't any actual time for us to talk about it!" Dani desperately explains.

"If it makes you feel any better, we haven't really talked about it either." I add.

Dani nods.

At first Kalia says nothing. I get why she's upset... we went ahead and did something potentially threatening to our game when we could have just asked her about it. I still don't know if hearing about it would have been enough, but we didn't even try. I really do get it!

Finally, she speaks. "Then talk about it. Sort things out, before the rest of the house does for you."

"It's really that bad?" I wince.

"That bad? Two rivals, chained against their will, kissing? And their girls? You think that's not gonna cause a huge ruckus?"

"...ruckus?" I say with the same expression as before.

"Just- work this out. Okay? Figure this out, and we'll talk after nominations."

Before either of us can comment, she leaves.

"...so." Dani says awkwardly.

I take a breath. "If you're not comfortable talking about this, we don't have to you know."

"I wanna talk about this. Openly. Everyone thinks they get what's going on, but truthfully I don't even know. And I get the feeling you don't know either." She says, looking off. "I just don't know where to start."

We both need to sort out our thoughts. She's right, we need to talk about this openly, speak our minds, find out what's really going on with us, rather then just pretend we're just- ...okay why am I still sitting here and thinking about this when I just clearly said we need to be open?

"Kalia's got a point." I start. "When she said we need to figure this out before the rest of the house does it for us."

She looks at me, as if to say she doesn't understand.

"We tell everyone that we were just experimenting, it's just curiosity, there's nothing to it, and eventually we'll start to believe it..." I elaborate. "So... is it?"

There was a long pause. Though she suggest we speak openly, I could tell there was a lot of consideration in her thought process.

"...I liked the kiss." She mutters under her breath.

"W... W-what?"

Dani's mood changed from confident and poised to shy, and slightly uncomfortable. Whatever she'd said, she was clearly not ready to come to terms with herself. I too was nervous... neither of us wanted to say something in fear of upsetting or disappointing the other. As much as I want to talk about the... closeness, of last night, ...quite bluntly I'm afraid to.

"...Dani we're not gonna get anywhere unless we're honest with each other." I state. "Just, tell me how you feel."

"I can't!" She blurts in anger. "How about you tell me how you feel? I... I just need to know before I say anything I might regret."

"I don't want the way I feel to affect your decision!" I argue. "This is ridicules! If you're not gonna tell me the truth, then I'll- I'll just-"

I-I'll...

She store at me, waiting to see how I felt.

"...I guess I'll just have to start..." I say instead, taking a slower approach to the subject. "But, after nominations. I don't really want to be interrupted in the middle of explaining something."

She was still frozen, her thoughts overtaking her mind and body. Without saying anything, she lies down and shuts her eyes. And, we wait.

"...Lawon, you are safe." Jordan reads, handing him his key.

He and the floatees look shocked, as the rest attempt to not smile at their vanity.

All that's left is Jeff's, Rachel's, and mine.

Lawon pulls the key.

"...Melanie. You are safe."

Okay great, so now me and Jeff are on the-

WHAT?

"Jeff, you're a very strong competitor in this game. I see you as a threat to my game play." She announces as planned.

"Rachel, I'm not gonna lie, you're completely useless in this game without Brendon. It's time you quit your whining and leave."

When did this happen? The plan was I was supposed to go up! She even said she'd talk to them if the plans changed. Dani... why?

"Start explaining." Jeff commands, clearly the ring leader of their trio.

"Look, nothing against either of you! I just-"

"What!" He commands.

"I was thinking about the patterns of the game play, and I believe the next competition is bound to be endurance." She finishes, after Jeff so rudely interrupts her.

"So? Mel's good at endurance!" He argues.

"Not when she's on slop." Dani retaliates. "Have you seen the poor girl eat at all this week? She won't stand a chance in an endurance, or type of competition."

...she's good.

"Rachel on the other hand- she's amazing at those types of competitions!" She starts.

Rachel sort of smiles. If Dani has to lie to keep her from being upset...

Jeff rolls his eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I just got to thinking-" She begins again.

"Then why didn't you tell us Daniele?" Jeff interrupts yet again. "The deal was you would say something if your decision changed!"

"I know." She replies. "I'm sorry. But, I was afraid that if I called you up and told you, Mel would say something and try to convince me she was okay to go up, and honestly..."

She looked at me now.

"I don't want to risk her getting hurt."

Oh Dani...

I couldn't help but smile at how sweet she was being. Still, I try to hide my face.

"...right. Well, how many times now have I asked you for advanced notice?" He sighs.

"Jeff, it's not like she's gunning for us. Don't give her a reason too." Jordan warns out of concern.

"We're the ones on the block." Rachel solemnly agrees.

His own team telling him to cool down in front of us. ...she's REALLY good.

"You better put Lawon up when I win that veto." He says with one last threat, then walks out. Jordan follows him, but Rachel and her annoying ass stay.

Jordan looks back before letting the door close, almost glaring at her alliance member.

"Go on. I'll be down in a minute." She says with a smile.

"Don't stay up here too long." Jordan warns, and exits down the stairs.

Me and Dani look at her curiously. What could she possibly want to bug us about.

"Why don't you tell us why you -really- put me up in her place, Daniele." Rachel demands.

Is she catching on to a possible scheme against the Vets? Dani did mention that Lawon, being annoying and useless to everyone, is no threat what-so-ever! Maybe she thinks she's really gunning for them. Maybe she really IS gunning for them! Maybe-

"Just admit it, you didn't want to put Melanie on the block because she's your girlfriend!" Rachel laughs.

...oh. Well I hope neither of them noticed me freaking out.

"She's not my girlfriend. I can't just be concerned for her health?" She glares back.

Rachel stands. "Right Daniele. I'm sure it's just your perfectly innocent soul caring for another human being." She mocks, then leaves.

God, how stupid! Rachel doesn't realize who Dani really is. She hasn't spent four days chained to her, though. I, on the other hand, know Dani better then anyone in this house.

"...so are you gonna tell ME what's really going on?" I say finally.

"Hm?" She perks. "I told you. I don't want you competing."

"Dani," I smile. "We're on the same team. You also told me Lawon was usless to everyone, and he's not a threat and such. Just tell me... are the Vets our target this week? I swear I won't tell anyone! Common."

She frowns. "Mel... I still want Lawon out. I just, don't think it's worth risking your health or your head on the chopping block. ...is it really that hard for people to think I care?"

"No! I mean, I know you care! I just thought maybe it was some sort of coverup." I explain.

"Think of it this way." She states. "If I had called them up before nominations and said I was changing it, would you have tried to convice me otherwise?"

Yeah...

"No!" I deny.

"Liar!" She accuses.

She was right. I would have told her I was fine, I could handle it, don't make things more complicated for my sake... She wouldn't even risk me possibly changing her mind!

"You really do care." I sigh after some thinking.

"Yeah, Mel." She confirms. "You know, I can see why you wouldn't believe me actually."

Hm?

"Because, we started as enemies. We didn't like each other on a personal level, because I was so closed off to making friends. Then you became a threat to my gameplay when I overheard you Cassi and Porsche talking about going after me and Kalia. Then you became my enemy in the game, too. Next thing you know we're chained up, and it brings us into an alliance, but even still, if we were just in an alliance, then why wouldn't I just use you to further everyone's game?"

"What you're saying is..." I trail, looking off, knowing where this is going.

"You're more to me then some pawn. I, genuinely, care for you. Mel."

"Dani, that's so sweet." I smile, still not looking at her though. "but you didn't need to risk getting on the Vet's bad side just for my safety."

"YA SEE!" She snaps. "I TOLD you you'd try to convince me otherwise!"

I loosen from my tense mood.

"Well!" I sway.

"Well nothing! I was SO right!" She giggles, punching my shoulder. "You just admitted it!"

"Well...!" I repeat. She was right. "...whatever!"

Dani shakes her head. I closed my eyes, and lie down, but I could just feel her looking at me.

"You act so cute when you're caught in a lie." She smiles, then lays beside me.

"Excuse me?" I laugh, then look at her.

"Common. That thing you do, where you act like it's not a big deal, then completely ignore the situation like it'll just go away-"

"So?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I dunno." She shrugs. "Hey, you didn't wanna go eat or anything, right?"

"No." I reply. "Why? You going to bed?"

"Yeah. That okay?"

"Sure!" I respond. "I don't think I need to do anything else tonight. Need to turn off the lights?"

She nods, and we both get up.

And when I thought she'd forgot...

"So, you'd mentioned earlier you were gonna tell me something after nominations."

Damn. "Yeah, but I thought you wouldn't want to bring it up." I admit.

"I think I do want to know." She replies, her voice not yet swaying into that shy mode.

"...alright." I sigh.

After a moment for me to gather my thoughts, I start my rant.

"So... I think, and I could be wrong, but, by what it seemed, we both found the k-kiss to be appealing." I stutter.

I look to her for any sort of reaction. Her eyes we fixed on our chained hands, but slowly, she nods.

"...but the reason WHY it's so enjoyable to us, might be more then curiosity." I continue.

She smiles, and then scoots closer to me. "Yeah?"

"Yes!" I excite, thinking she's caught on. "You see, being cut off from society has deprived us of our need for affection. I did some thinking, and it's apparent that with us forced to be close together, our minds have tricked us into psychologically replacing a romantic partner for one another. It's only a natural reaction for us to oblige by this-"

"Oh..." She sighs, then turns away.

"...unless, you have a different theory." I offer, awaiting her input.

"Okay." She starts. "I think that, this has nothing to do with psychology."

Hm?

"You say things like our mind is playing tricks on us, and... it's a healthy part of life to be curious, and, things like that. But, who are you trying to convince?" She questions. "I think it's all just excuses. You said that we both enjoyed the kiss. Personally, I really think that's all that matters. There's no reason to get behind the science of it, but if you ask me I think it's chemistry."

Chemistry...? Between... me and-

"Have you SEEN the way you act around me? Every muscle in your body tenses when we touch. Every pigment in your cheek bones becomes a florescent red. Melanie... you're attracted to a girl!" She smiles. "And you just can't admit it to yourself!"

"You mean, admit that, according to what you think, that I'm..."

"...just say it." She pleads.

"I can't." I begin to cry. "I'm NOT. I..."

She realized she may have pressured me into this state, and wraps her arms around me.

...or, maybe she just wanted to comfort me. In her terms.

"Mel, I'm so sorry. Maybe it's too soon to be talking about this. I should have known better..."

"But you're right, Dani." I cry. "I can't say it, but I know you're right. I just need to know... are you?"

There's a pause.

"I think, maybe, I'm bicurious." She begins, still holding me in her arms. "And, I think, maybe, those curiosities haven't reached their limits."

And that was Dani's hidden way of saying she wants to continue to be with me. Too.

"You should get some sleep." She suggests. "If you're not gonna eat, then you have to conserve as much energy as you can."

We lay back down, this time laying under the covers.

After she's settled comfortably in bed, I lean over and plant a kiss on her mouth.

"...goodnight Dani." I blush.

It's true... you can tell if someone likes you just by their body language. Though I couldn't see her facial reaction, her hand had tensed and her head fell to the side facing me. Her breathing was heavier then normal, and her eyes slightly flickered for a few seconds.

We were undeniably falling for each other.


	6. Endurance

Ch 6; Endurance

We walk out to the backyard once the screen door is opened, and realize we're in for an endurance competition. It has been a while since the last.

By some luck Dani, who didn't want me playing in the competition in the first place, pulls my chip out of the bag. We were up against Jordan and, wouldn't you know it, Lawon.

"Mel... you don't have to stay up there." Dani warns as I turn the key around our chain.

There was a big board. I've seen them use this board many times... like the season with Dan and a few other ones. It had a wintery background and skis, and little knobs you could hang on to for balance.

"I'm really okay! ...look, I'll fall after Lawon falls, deal?"

She looks at me sternly. "...well, okay." She sighs. "He is sorta clumsy."

I smile, and release the cuff from my side. She took the key and started to turn hers, and I walked to my position.

When everyone was ready, the board came down and picked us up. We were lifted in the air, and the timer starts.

"How we doing houseguests?" Julie asks, five minutes in.

"Goood." Many of us reply.

"Cold!" Rachel shouts out.

"Well, it's gonna be a cold night..." She says before the snow begins to fall. "Goodnight houseguests."

Cold wet snowflakes came storming down out of nowhere! I forgot to bring a hoody, yet again. I didn't forget to go to the bathroom at least...

I was positioned next to Jeff, with nothing on the other side. I could see Dani on the other side of him, and past that was a blur from the snow storm. I think Rachel tried to climb on the one next to her, but Jordan asked her to move as to not bother Dani. So... it could be Jordan next to her. Or maybe they're on the other side entirely...

Well, it's either Jordan, or Lawon, when you think about it. Maybe it goes Me, Jeff, Dani, Jordan, Rachel, and then Lawon? Not that it really matters. It occupies my thoughts, and keeps my mind off how cold I am already for a while if nothing else.

The snow storm dies down after a good hour. Being able to see now I notice Jordan and Rachel have already fallen. Lawon was in the middle of the two spaces, so I guess I won't know who was next to Dani until after I fall. I'm probably not going to ask, as I'm sure my mind will trail off to a different subject by that time.

Hey... that reminds me... now would be a good time to analyze what Dani was saying last night.

She said, indirectly, that she was attracted to me. She said she was bi-curious, and she was STILL curious to an extent. I was thinking last night before I fell asleep that she's probably waiting for me to tell her I'm okay with it. She wants me to admit to myself that yeah... I like girls. I like her. ...I do like her, I mean. Cause she's right; we have chemistry. I want to be near her. I want to cuddle next to her at night, and share that intimacy with her. ...there's nothing wrong with me... It's perfectly normal... No, wait. It's who I am, weather I like it or not. I can't help the fact that I feel attracted to girls, and the more I try to push it out of my mind, the more susceptible I am to it. So, I just let this happen I guess. Surrender myself to these uncontrollable feelings and let myself fall for her. Certainly I'll tell her as soon as possible that I want to be with her.

...or...

Maybe I should take advantage of the fact that I know she wants me too, and surprise her. I know I already did, in a sense... neither of us were expecting for me to kiss her that next morning. But, this is different. I can plan ahead! Though, there's not much to plan if we're stuck in this house. Good thing I have time to think about this up here. I guess I can't really do anything too extravagant, but to just tell her I'm ready to be with her isn't exactly apt.

The buzzer sounds, which snaps me out of my thought process. I glance to the ground before the snow comes in to see Jeff has fallen to the ground.

Even though it's snowing harshly, Dani's close enough for me to see. Without Jeff blocking the way, it's apparent that she's about to give out any second.

"H-hey." I speak.

Her body shook vigorously, and she didn't have the energy to lift her head to look at me.

"I got this." I tell her. "You don't have to stay up here any longer."

A short, quiet mumble emits from her mouth. After I ask her what she was saying, Dani speaks up.

"I said if anyone should drop it should be you. Mel, you've been up here for three hours without a jacket. Your arms are turning blue..."

I shrug. "Yeah, but at least I can't feel them hurting from hanging on for so long. They've gone completely numb!" I look over at Lawon, but can't see through the snowy wall. "...I think he's gonna drop soon. I can stay up here for another three hours. You..."

Her whole body was shaking with pain and exhaustion. After another ten minutes, she dropped to the ground.

The buzzer goes off, and a pile of snow comes shooting up from where she land. Now, it was just me against Lawon.

The snow begins once again.

"We are now reaching the fourth hour of this competition, with Melanie and Lawon still hanging on for the power of veto..." Julie announces. I think the snow is on for half an hour, and off for five minutes. I don't know if all that equals into four hours or not, but it's just a guess.

"What are you still hanging on for...?" Lawon pants from the other side.

The houseguests sitting on the bench all look, knowing the reason but curious to see how I'm going to respond. At first, I don't. After a few seconds...

"For Dani." I boldly answer.

I know if it weren't for her, I wouldn't still be up here.

"...you're gonna lose." He warns. "Because I'm hanging here for myself."

I didn't look at my peers, or him. I kept my line of sight focused... ignoring any embarrassment I may have caused for her. It's true, though. If I don't win this, Dani becomes public enemy number one and the Vet's side of the house will hate her. She's depending on me! It puts a lot of pressure on a person... she knew it would, too. She knew, so she didn't want me playing in the first place. But here I am.

Ahh... lookit the pretty shiny... they're all piling on that big cushy thing down there! Hehe! ...why am I getting closer to the big cushy thing down there...?

Before I realize it, I was face down on the safety mat, my face plunged right into the snow that torcher me for the past eight hours of my life.

I heard someone calling my name from afar before finding Dani kneeling at my side, wrapping her hoody around my body.

"Mel! ...y...someone...HEY...!" I hear. My senses were zoning in and out, and it was hard to hear or see her when only catching short glimpses of both.

I felt Dani put her arm around me, and sling mine around her shoulder. She picked up my legs and carried me to where I believe must have been back into the house.

"Is she okay?"

"Hey! Wake up!"

"I think Lawon's blacked out..."

"Oh, this is just terrible!"

These were some of the sentence fragments I'd picked up as I was being carried in. Dani set me down in the have not room, and started shaking me vigorously.

"Melanie! Please wake up!" She cried.

"Not so rough!" A male voice warns. Jeff?

"Melanie...!" Dani whines again.

"Don't worry! She'll be okay!" The voice reverbs. "I'll make them some soup. You should just try to talk to her, distract her from whatever pain she's experiencing."

I hear Cassi's voice. "Well Lawon says he's okay, but I don't believe him... oh my god!" She pauses. "Is she passed out?"

"I don't know." Dani cried.

I'm not passed out! I can hear them...

"Cassi I'm scared..."

I felt the bedding shift as Cassi sat down. "Hey, calm down. She's still breathing..." She confides.

"This is all my fault." Dani sobs. "I'm the one who should have stayed up there."

"...I'm cold." I mutter, and the girls gasp.

"She's awake!" Cassi calls out the door and I'm soon greeted by Jordan, Adam, and Shelly.

"Melanie! You're alive!" Jordan excites.

"Do you know how worried we all were?" Jeff asks, entering with a bowl of soup.

"Um... I'm fine..." I lie, sitting up slightly. "Am I allowed to eat this?"

"Yes." Jeff nods, and I assume someone checked with the diary room people beforehand.

I take the food.

"You know that form you signed says Big Brother is NOT responsible for any health problems inflicted while in the house, right?" Shelly laughs.

In the mean time, Dani grabbed a blanket and was wrapping it around my shaking body.

"You should really change out of those wet clothes." She suggests, remaining close by my side.

I really don't have the energy to do it myself. Thankfully, I didn't have the energy to explain this to the group before it came out of my mouth without thinking. I simply nod, and sip my soup.

"H-how's Lawon?" I ask.

"You're so sweet to worry about someone else when your suffering like this." Jordan comments.

"He took quite a hit to his health too." Adam explains. "But he's tough! He'll be fine!"

"Good..." I sigh.

"Dani, you should take her up to the dungeon." Jeff suggests. "She's not gonna get any rest on this hard excuse for a bed."

She nods. "Someone grab her soup."

She picks me up the same way as before, still wrapped in my blankets. We finally reached the top of the stairs, and Jeff took the key from her pocket and opened the door.

"...it's not opening." He notes.

"Oh, that's the key to the chains. Other pocket."

Soon we were inside the room, and I was placed on the bed. Jeff handed her my soup and left promptly. He may be our enemy in the game, but I think he supports this blooming relationship of ours.

"You want your soup?" She asks after a moment.

"No thanks." I reply.

She looks at me angrily. "Melanie, eat your soup."

I ignore her, and wait for her to set the bowl back down. She was sitting at my side.

"...are you mad at me?" I ask quietly.

She wasn't looking at me. "You better believe I'm mad at you." She says with her arms crossed.

"...I'm sorry I didn't win the veto." I apologize, closing my eyes in shame.

"Excuse me?" She retorts. "Mel I could care less about that! Do you know how worried I was?"

Worried.

Dani went on about how scared she was when I fell, and how scared she was when I DIDN'T fall, and when I stayed up there for her sake. I zoned out... Dani. Genuinely, genuinely cares for me. This isn't some game strategy she has, trying to allure me to do what she wants. I don't have the veto; Lawon does. But here she is, taking care of me.

"And I never, ever want you to put yourself in that sort of risk ever again!" She finished.

I wanted to thank her for her concern. I wanted to tell her how much it means to me. I wanted to sit in the room and chat with her for a moment before anyone started coming up about who's getting voted out. None of this was gonna happen.

Just as I smile and am about to begin my spiel, the doorbell rings.

"Uhg." She grunts, loud enough for me and her to hear her. "It's unlocked!" She calls, and Shelly enters.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you're okay." She concerns.

Perfect timing... not.

"Thanks Shelly. I'm alright now." I say, trying to act grateful for her concern.

"Do you need me to get you anything? Water, crackers,"

"I'm taking care of her." Dani announces, but Shelly still doesn't get the hint.

She steps inside and lets the door shut behind her. "You know just because we aren't on the same team, I'm still concerned about you." She begins to explain.

"...which is why I feel like maybe we can start over, because I have nothing against either of you personally! And-"

"Um, Shelly, thank you. I'm not mad at you or anything, okay? I just, sorta need to rest now, if you don't mind." I say calmly.

It's possible she finally picked up that we want to be alone.

She stands. "Feel better, kay Mel?"

"I will." I fake smile, and she leaves.

We watch her exit down the stairs, then continue our conversation.

"So... you were really worried about me then?" I say shyly.

"Did you not hear a word I said a couple minutes ago?" She accuses.

"I was listening!" I argue. "I listened to every word you said." I explain, less hyper now.

"Oh." She says, not sure how to respond yet. "Well, then yes. You should know by now that I care about you, Melanie."

How sweet.

"Speaking of which, we should probably get you to the diary room." She suggests. "You get changed and meet me down there, okay?"

It's standard that when you have health issues, you go to the diary room. Anything serious and they would have came rushing in, but we really were just fine.

Dani walks down the steps and sits in the living room as I changed. Good thing I had moved all my stuff up to the HoH room when Dani won. I figured since we were cuffed together, we'd be sleeping together. Once I'm changed and have waddled down the stairs, I notice Lawon is up.

Jordan and Porsche were expressing their concern for Lawon.

"Ladies, ladies! I'm just fine! You should be worried about-" He stands. "Tiger! There you are!"

"Hey..." I smile. "You okay?"

The other girls listen patiently.

"Yeah. Hey, I was meaning to tell you. Good game up there, girl." He says, offering a hand-shake.

I accept. "You too."

"I'm gonna take her to the diary room." Dani interrupts, and the three look at her.

"Ask the camera man in there about meds for Melanie then. Lawon said he got some pills or somethin." Jordan suggests.

"Electrolyte tablets." Lawon corrects.

Dani nods.

I was prescribed a few electrolyte tablets, but other than that they said I was fine, and didn't need to be taken off the slop. Frowny face.

Now we sat outside waiting for Lawon's decision on the veto. We know he's not gonna change it, but it's also standard we all wait outside.

"It's warm out." I comment aloud. "It makes me mad."

Jordan and Adam laugh.

"Why are you mad?" Dani asks. She was sitting on the other side of the couch.

"Cause ten minutes ago it was cold and I was freezing and now it's like nothing happened!" I whine.

Lawon decides not to use veto. Meeting adjourned. Back to game talk...

"I'm not gonna lie, I didn't expect him to win." Dani explains once all the Vets are up there with us.

"News flash; he won, and me and Rachel are on the block." Jeff glares. He wasn't hyped up like usual though, knowing that he has himself to blame for as well.

"Look, I'm sorry! I don't know what else to do."

Rachel starts crying. Psh, Rachel.

Whatever Dani wants to do, we have the votes. As for the vets, it's every man for themselves. I'm sure Jeff and Rachel will go around campaigning. Not that it matters, cause like I said, we have the votes. This is actually a good thing for us to pick off the vets, now that I think about it.

"Daniele and Melanie, please go to the diary room."

SAVED BY THE BELL!

"...sorry guys." Dani shrugs, and I follow her out the door.

They called us in and we found the cuffs sitting on the couch, as usual.

"...Some curse." I smile.

Dani was still lost in thought about the whole Vet's deal.

"I really like being cuffed to you." I say. "...and, I'm just realizing how creepy that must sound. I'm sorry!"

"I like being cuffed to you too, Mel." She responds blankly.

Right now she wasn't worried about this. There's a lot of change going on in her game play.

"Hey, come sit down and repeat that." The camera guy says. "They say they want it on camera."

"Oh god..." Dani moans. "Do we have to?"

"Yeah, but act embarrassed." He directs. "Take it from 'I really like being cuffed to you'."

Can he do that? Can he just, turn whatever I say into a freaking script? Rude!

Dani, also annoyed, slouches and sits on the red couch, pulling me with her.

"ACTION!" he announces, and points at us. We put on our smiles.

After a couple takes, we're free to leave. We head back up stairs, where Lawon was waiting for us.

"What's up?" Dani asks after the door shuts.

"I wanna say, I know it was the plan to backdoor me. And I'm totally cool with it!" He starts. "You know, you were doing what the rest of the house wanted, I respect that, I understand, but point is, I'm still here. And quite frankly, I don't think your veteran friends are too happy with you right now."

"Dani's not a vet!" I accuse, glaring at him.

"Technically she is. Not the point, though."

Oh yeah... I forgot. She's such a rebel!

"Now, even after all this planning and stuff, my offer is still open to you girls. Face it... you'll need my help if you're going to continue this little love-circle you've got going on here." He explains.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Dani asks, skeptical of what he knows.

"I'm just saying, you think Kalia would ever team up with this one here, there's no chance." He elaborates, referring to me. "Nothing against you tiger, but the odds she'd be willing to join up with the girl who stole her crush."

Crush?

"You're a lot smarter then you look, Lawon." Dani comments. "I'm not expecting Kalia to form an alliance with us. ...since we're being blunt, you're lucky you squeezed another week out of your time here, but that's all you're getting. I don't need to add a bigger target on my back by teaming up with you, got it?"

He was speechless.

"I'm not in the mood for this right now." She continues. "Just, leave. I don't want any deals. Leave."

God! This whole thing is really stressing her out. Poor Dani...

Lawon does the thing with his eyebrows, where he just sorta raises them up and down, like he's shrugging, then walks out.

Dani falls backwards on her bed and heaves.

"...everything okay?" I ask awkwardly.

"No." She moans. "I never should have won this HoH to begin with."

I scoot a little closer and grab her hand chained to mine. "I think you're doing a great job."

"Mel, thank you. I need to sleep. I'm sorry dear." She huffs and pulls her hand from mine.

Oh! I almost forgot!

"...Does Kalia have a crush on you?"

She turns her head. "She did. She never said it, but she did."

"So, how did you-"

"Meeeel..." She moans again.

"Sorry! Sorry. Um, want me to turn the lights out for a little?" I offer.

"Yeah, get them on your way out."

...

"...oh, shoot. Right." She remembers. "No, you can leave them on."

What the hell is wrong with her? She seems so... distant now. It... it kinda hurt. Does she really like being chained to me? I mean, I know she said she did, but, just a second ago she asked me to leave.

I must be over thinking this. Clearly the poor girl is just stressed from all this. I, hope, that's all it is. It's really eating at me, that she DIDN'T want to hold my hand, she DIDN'T want me here, and she DIDN'T want me to turn the lights off. God... I know she just wants to rest, but part of me wants to know if I did something to make her mad. The other part kinda just wants to let myself believe it's just stress and pretend everything's okay between us.

"..."

She lay on her back, her eyes closed. She can't be asleep already, can she?

"..."

Say something! ...no, no! I can't! I'll just... see what happens tomorrow. See if things go back to normal. I mean, they WILL go back to normal! Y-yeah...

I roll away and close my eyes, but sleep didn't come. I just kept thinking about the competition, and Kalia, and how distant she was acting now. After hours and hours of waiting, I finally drift off and have a nightmare about it.

"Hey, ...HEY!" Dani shouts, seven in the morning.

Great. Three hours of sleep...

"You awake yet?" She asks while shaking me.

I yawn. "Y-yes."

I didn't know whether to be happy or worried. Waking up to her face was beautiful, but she was still uptight.

"Get up, then." She orders. "I need to get some food."

Without waiting for me to stand, she drags me across the bed and I hop to my feet before she knocks me on the floor.

"Whoa!" I say. "Slow down!"

She continued down the stairs at the same speed though, determined to eat, and nothing's going to stop her from doing so.

I limp from place to place as she yanks me around finding her dishes and silver wear. Once she has some slop and sits down, I get a break.

"Morning girls." Kalia greets, poring some milk.

"Hey." I reply, but Dani says nothing.

There was really no reaction after that, and the conversation dies. Once Dani's scarffed about three spoonfuls of her food, she dumps the rest down the sink and it's to the bathroom to brush our teeth.

"...Dani?"

I flinch at the apprehended rage, but she continues to scrub her teeth. After she spits and rinse,

"What?"

I flinch again.

She looks at me, able to feel my reaction. "Mel, why are you so jumpy all the sudden."

"Um..." Best we solve this right now, before the house solve it for us. "I just want to know, if you still like me." I say shyly. "I don't mean to interrupt you, I just want to know so I can stop bugging you about it if maybe your mind has changed since we last talked about it.

"Mel, don't be ridicules! Of course I still like you." She sets her tooth brush down. "Why wouldn't I?"

Instead of saying anything, I scan through scenarios of what could happen if I tell her how mean she's been acting. I was frozen in mortification...

She looks around. We were alone. Dani puts her hands on my shoulder. "Look hun, I'm just a little on edge right now. I'm, really sorry if I'm taking it out on you. I know it's not very possible with these chains, but I just need my space for a little."

"I understand." I oblige.

"Okay." she nods.

After finishing our dental routine, we head back up stairs for hair brush and other morning preparations for today.

It was a relief that it wasn't me she was upset with. I want things to work between us, and I don't need things changing before I tell her.

Tell her what? Exactly? Well, that's a secret.

"So, not to pry, but can I ask you something?" Dani says over the silence.

"Only if I can ask you something." I reply.

"Sounds fair." She nods. "I wanted to ask you about what you said when you were up on the skis with Lawon."

"Mel, why you still hanging up here?"

"For Dani."

"Oh, right..." I remember.

"It's the way you said it. And, at first I thought you meant for the veto, and for me to get him out. But, you weren't playing for revenge." She analyzes. "You were playing so I wouldn't have to deal with all this stress." She smiles. "Am I right?"

I smile. "Sorta."

She stares at me.

"I know how stressful it can be, and don't get me wrong, I wanted more than anything to keep you safe for next week!" I begin. "But... That's not what kept me up there."

I take her hand. Dani, you have this... reputation, for using you white-witch powers to convince people to do whatever you say." I gently put.

"Wait, I'm lost..."

Lemmi take a moment to explain this.

Those close intimate moments when she pull her prey into an alluring hypnotic state... they hear Dani saying 'go tell Melanie to put up the vets' but all they can feel is her warm breath hitting their ear and neck... and you want to close your eyes and fall into a deep sleep, but you just can't stop staring at her beautiful face... and just when you think she's close enough to kiss...

BANG!

White witch powers. -W-win their heart -H-hypnotize the victim -I-instruct plans -T-tease and flirt -E-execute instruction. WHITE witch.

"You pretend you like people to get them on your side." I explain in short.

"Oh..." She looks down, not denying anything.

I was thinking about how if I didn't win the veto, I'd be useless to you! There'd be no reason for you to continue flirting with me or putting up with me if I you were doomed anyway."

"Oh sweetie! That's not true!" She cries.

"I know!" I say. "But, at the time, when you're up there long enough, you think about things. Patterns... and, at the time I thought that if I didn't win you the veto, you'd never let me kiss you again..."

She pulls me into a hug.

"No wonder you were so concerned... Oh, Melanie... I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, you didn't know what was going through my head." I softly explain. "It's not your fault."

She takes a breath and calms down.

"I want you to understand that no matter what happens in this game, it doesn't change our relationship, okay?"

Relationship... that word makes my heart do a flip.

"Y-yeah. I know that now." I stutter. "Now... it's my turn to ask you a question."

She releases me. "Of course! What do you want to know?"

"How you knew Kalia had a crush on you." I state.

"...anything different?"

What! ...well...

"Why you ignore your father." I try again.

"...anything... different...?" She winces.

"Dani! You really can't tell me?"

She sighs. "The dad thing is kinda personal, and you wouldn't want to know how I knew Kalia was into me."

"If you two had a thing, you can tell me." I explain. "I remember her being a bit, angry, when she'd learned of our 'experiments'."

"You mean our kiss?" Dani fills in. "Mel, you can say we kissed. That's what happened, after all."

"Right." I shake. "So, why was Kalia really flipping out? DID you two have a thing?"

She says nothing.

"No." She finally breaths. "But, Kalia did show a slight interest in me."

She goes on about Kalia climbing in bed with her, Kalia making her breakfast in the morning, Kalia brushing her hair for her, Kalia, Kalia, Kalia!

"Okay!" I suddenly interrupt. "...I mean... okay. So, she clearly had a great interest in you, and made it obvious and everything, and you... let her flirt with you to win her over and, take control of her votes."

"Sure..." She shrugs, looking off.

"Dani?"

"...well sorta. At first. But, Kalia and I became good friends! Then she told us everything about your alliance, and put herself at risk, and I couldn't just throw her under."

What a pattern. She didn't have a problem with any of her boys in the past season. I doubt she even remembers -Dominic- exists! But Dani's become attached to me and Kalia. We're more than game players. Kalia's like a best friend, and I'm like a- ...very, close, female friend.

"So you and Kalia are friends." I smile. "Why did you think you couldn't tell me that Dani? I'm not jealous! Even if she does still like you that way."

"Well, I don't know about that, but thanks so much for understanding." She gives me a quick hug. "Maybe we can talk about my dad some time, but right now I don't really feel like it, you know?"

"Sure! Sure thing, Dani." I nod. "And only if you're comfortable with it."


End file.
